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The book is also a good source for courses in robotics and automation, control engineering, mechanical engineering, and mechatronics. CLAWAR 2024 is the 27th International Conference Series on Climbing and Walking Robots and Mobile Machine Support Technologies. The conference is organized by CLAWAR Association in collaboration with the RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau and FZI Center for Information Technology, Germany, during September 4–6, 2024. CLAWAR 2024 provides the latest research and development findings and state-of-the-art insights into the mobile robotics and associated technologies in a diverse range of application scenarios, within the framework of “walking robots into real world.” The topics covered include AI-based systems and solutions, biologically inspired systems and solutions, human-like robots, innovative grippers, innovative robot design, planetary exploration, planning and control, prosthetics and rehabilitation, quadruped robots, and robotic applications. The intended readership includes participants of CLAWAR 2024 conference, worldwide researchers, scientists, and educators in the areas of robotics and related topics.

This book reports on cutting-edge research and best practices in the broad fiel of biomedical engineering. Based on the XLVI Mexican Congress on Biomedical Engineering, CNIB 2023, held on November 2-4, 2023 in Villahermosa Tabasco, Mexico, this first volume of the proceedings covers research topics in biomedical signals and image processing, artificial intelligence, biosensors, and wearable systems, with applications ranging from disease classification and diagnosis, to health monitoring and medical therapy. All in all, this book provides a timely snapshot on state-of-the-art achievements in biomedical engineering and current challenges in the field. It addresses both researchers and professionals, and it is expect to foster future collaborations between the two groups, as well as international collaborations..

This is an introductory textbook on general and algebraic topology, aimed at anyone with a basic knowledge of calculus and linear algebra. It provides full proofs and includes many examples and exercises. The covered topics include: set theory and cardinal arithmetic; axiom of choice and Zorn's lemma; topological spaces and continuous functions; con- nectedness and compactness; Alexandrov compactification; quotient topol- ogies; countability and separation axioms; prebasis and Alexander's theorem; the Tychonoff theorem and paracompactness; complete metric spaces and function spaces; Baire spaces; homotopy of maps; the fundamental group; the van Kampen theorem; covering spaces; Brouwer and Borsuk's theorems; free groups and free product of groups and basic category theory. While it is very concrete at the beginning, abstract concepts are gradually introduced. This second edition contains a new chapter with a topological introduction to sheaf cohomology and applications.It also corrects some inaccuracies and some additional exercises are proposed. The textbook is suitable for anyone needing a basic, comprehensive introduction to general and algebraic topology and its applications.

The book introduces techniques, devices, device structures and therapeutic in dural arteriovenous fistulas. During past 4 decades, neurovascular or endovasuclar surgery developed fast and provide effective and minimally invasive treatment of dural arteriovenous fistulas. The treatment of dural arteriovenous fistulas has also seen substantial evolution, increasing the number of dural arteriovenous fistulas that can be treated successfully with minimally invasive therapy. Authors introduces the great advances in the techniques, devices and treatment concepts, which shows striking therapeutic benefit for dural arteriovenous fistulas. In each technique, authors introduce methods, cases, result, discussion and conclusion. The CT scan, MR imaging, angiography and surgical figures are provided in each chapter. Attending physicians, fellows, residents, medical students will benefit from reading this text.

This fifth edition of Chassin's Operative Strategy in General Surgery is a major revision that strives to remain faithful to the purpose and tone of Dr. Chassin's original text. This unique textbook provides an emphasis on surgical strategy that is unmatched by other textbooks of surgical technique. The text explains the conceptual basis of each operation, outlines strategies to avoid common pitfalls, and carefully describes and beautifully illustrates the technical steps of each operation. The fifth edition preserves the unique qualities of its previous edition while providing a comprehensive update. This updated volume also features a vast amount of richly detailed artwork and operative photographs, which help depict operative techniques step-by-step. No other text so successfully combines operative technique with the concept of strategy – that is, key governing principles that dictate safe surgery and avoidance of complications. There are books of technique, there are books about complications, and there are books about the rationale involved in the treatment of various kinds of surgical pathology. Chassin's combines all three.Chassin's Operative Strategy in General Surgery: An Expositive Atlas Fifth Edition comprehensively covers all non-vascular operations commonly performed by general surgeons. This edition expands this comprehensive general surgery reference while remaining true to the special character of the work. The revision expands upon procedures not covered in the previous edition and incorporates new techniques into many other chapters.

This volume reviews the latest research on the functional implications of nuclear, chromosomal and genomic organization and architecture on cell and organismal biology, and development and progression of diseases.The architecture of the cell nucleus and non-random arrangement of chromosomes, genes, and the non-membranous nuclear bodies in the three-dimensional (3D) space alters in response to the environmental, mechanical, chemical, and temporal cues. The changes in the nuclear, chromosomal, or genomic compaction and configuration modify the gene expression program and induce or inhibit epigenetic modifications. The intrinsically programmed rearrangements of the nuclear architecture are necessary for cell differentiation, the establishment of cell fate during development and maturation of tissues and organs including the immune, muscle, and nervous systems.The non-programmed changes in the nuclear architecture can lead to fragmentation of the nucleus and instability ofthe genome and thus cause cancer. Microbial and viral infections can lead to a clustering of centromeres, telomeres and ribosomal DNA and alter the properties of the nuclear membrane, allowing large immobile macromolecules to enter the nucleus. Recent advances in next-generation sequencing technologies combined with nucleus/chromosome conformation capture, super-resolution imaging, chromosomal contact maps methods, integrative modeling, and genetic approaches, are uncovering novel features and importance of nuclear, chromosomal and genomic architecture. This book is an interesting read for cell biologists, researchers studying the structure and function of chromosomes, and anyone else who wants to get an overview of the field of nuclear, chromosomal and genomic architecture.

This book collects all the latest technologies with their implications on the global rice cultivation. It discusses all aspects of rice production and puts together the latest trends and best practices in the rice production. Rice is produced and consumed worldwide and especially an important crop for Asia. It is a staple food in majority of population living is this continent which distinguishes this from rest of the world. Climatic fluctuations, elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide, enhanced temperature have created extreme weather conditions for rice cultivation. Also, increasing pest attacks make situation complicated for the farmers. Therefore, rice production technology also has to be adjusted accordingly. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, plant biotechnologists, pathologists, agronomists, soil scientists, food technologists from different part of the globe. Also, the book serves as additional reading material for students of agriculture, soil science, and environmental sciences. National and international agricultural scientists, policy makers will also find this to be a useful read

This book, with invaluable contributions of Professor Franz Wotawa in chapters 5 and 7, presents the potential use and implementation of intelligent techniques in decision making processes involved in organizations and companies. It provides a thorough analysis of decisions, reviewing the classical decision theory, and describing usual methods for modeling the decision process. It describes the chronological evolution of Decision Support Systems (DSS) from early Management Information Systems until the appearance of Intelligent Decision Support Systems (IDSS). It explains the most commonly used intelligent techniques, both data-driven and model-driven, and illustrates the use of knowledge models in Decision Support through case studies. The author pays special attention to the whole Data Science process, which provides intelligent data-driven models in IDSS. The book describes main uncertainty models used in Artificial Intelligence to model inexactness; covers recommender systems; and reviews available development tools for inducing data-driven models, for using model-driven methods and for aiding the development of Intelligent Decision Support Systems.

This book provides an interdisciplinary look at emerging trends in signal processing and biomedicine found at the intersection of healthcare, engineering, and computer science. It examines the vital role signal processing plays in enabling a new generation of technology based on big data, and looks at applications ranging from medical electronics to data mining of electronic medical records. Topics covered include analysis of medical images, machine learning, biomedical nanosensors, wireless technologies, and instrumentation and electrical stimulation. Biomedical Signal Processing: Innovation and Applications presents tutorials and examples of successful applications, and will appeal to a wide range of professionals, researchers, and students interested in applications of signal processing, medicine, and biology.

Twenty-five years ago, a monograph on gastric cancer was published by the Italian Society of Surgery: that book is recognized as a milestone in the management of these tumors in Italy. Oncological and surgical knowledge in the field of gastric cancer have changed dramatically over the last 25 years. The aim of this book is to offer an essential update on current diagnostic approaches and optimal treatment strategies. It gives comprehensive information on gastric cancer not neglecting the basic sciences, which can shed light on the carcinogenesis mechanisms involved in this pathology. The principles of tailored and multimodal treatment are examined according to the latest guidelines with the aim of providing a valuable synopsis for clinicians. The book not only reviews what has changed in the field of gastric cancer over the past quarter century but also offers the reader a glimpse of the future by describing the ongoing surgical and oncological trials which focus on new treatment frontiers such as immunotherapy and target therapy. It also seeks to incorporate the latest discoveries based on molecular classifications. Further, the book reflects the findings and experiences of Italian experts belonging to the GIRCG (Italian Research Group for Gastric Cancer) and will offer an excellent guide for oncological surgeons in their daily practice of caring for patients affected by gastric cancer.

“Mosquitoes – Identification, Ecology and Control” presents a wealth of information on the bionomics, systematics, ecology, research techniques and control of both nuisance and disease vector mosquitoes. It provides practical guidance and important information in an easily readable style, suitable for anyone involved with, or interested in mosquitoes and their management.In this new edition, 102 European species including the most important invasive species and more than 100 globally important vector and nuisance species are described. Most of them, including all European species, are presented in the fully illustrated identification keys, followed by a detailed description of the morphology, biology, distribution and medical importance of each species, including over 700 detailed drawings.“Mosquitoes – Identification, Ecology and Control” includes:· systematics and biology· medical significance· research techniques· morphological characteristics used for identification of larvae and adults· illustrated identification keys for larval and adult mosquito genera· morphology, ecology, and distribution of the species identified in the keys· biological, genetic, physical and chemical control of mosquitoes “Mosquitoes – Identification, Ecology and Control” is a valuable tool for vector ecologists, medical entomologists, students and all those involved with mosquito systematics, biology, ecology, and control world-wide. Society as a whole benefit from the implementation of carefully designed and sustainable programs for the management of mosquitoes, and the diseases they transmit. The third edition of this successful publication has been comprehensively updated and expanded, to provide the foundation of a more enlightened and informed approach to mosquito management.

This 2-volume set constitutes the proceedings of the 6th International Conference on e-Learning, e-Education, and Online Training, eLEOT 2020, held in Changsha, China, in June 2020. The conference was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 68 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 141 submissions. They focus on most recent and innovative trends and new technologies in for educational modernization, such as artificial intelligence and big data. The theme of eLEOT 2020 was “Education with New Generation Information Technology”.

Since the first edition of this book, the impressive development of neuroendoscopy has dramatically changed the surgical approach to hydrocephalus, the main pathology pediatric neurosurgeons worldwide have to deal with. This revised and updated second edition, written by worldwide leaders in the field, fully reflects this progress: not only existing chapters have been reviewed whenever required, but new ones have been added thus taking into consideration every aspect of hydrocephalus, even when associated with the rarest pathologies. The general part include now more data on history, biomechanics, circulation and molecular basis. Special consideration for fetal surgery has been added, whereas the section on neonatal hydrocephalus has been further developed. Section 4, on the different pathologies associated with hydrocephalus, has been significantly expanded. and is now amazingly detailed, as well as the section on shunt treatment. Infections are now dealt with in two different chapters, and special attention to shunt complications (the nightmare of every Pediatric Neurosurgeon.) is paid in five different chapters. A very complete overview of the endoscopic treatment, that will surely draw the reader's attention thanks to the wonderful full color images, is also included. Written by acknowledged experts in the field, this title is an indispensable tool for all those facing this pathology in their daily practice.

This book reviews various topics in optoelectronics and the design of microelectronic circuits. It introduces readers to the essential features of optical absorption and device physics of photodetectors, as well as their integration in modern CMOS and BiCMOS technologies. This information provides the basis for understanding the underlying mechanisms of Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits (OEICs), which are described in the main part of the book. In the second edition of this book, new and outstanding integrated high-bandwidth pin photodiodes as well as avalanche photodiodes in the linear mode and in the Geiger mode are introduced. To cover the topic comprehensively, the book presents detailed descriptions of OEICs for a wide range of applications: from various optical sensors, smart sensors, image sensors, 3D-sensors and optical storage systems, to fiber receivers and receivers for optical wireless communication, as well as single-photon detection. This new edition also reflects the latest trends in OEIC research on integrated optical receivers at the quantum limit and electronic-photonic integration, and highlights outstanding 3D-integrated application examples like a multi-node optical switch, an optical transceiver, and a high-resolution 3D sensor.

This two volume set constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Distributed, Ambient and Pervasive Interactions, DAPI 2018, held as part of the 20th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2018, held in Las Vegas, NV, USA in July 2018. The total of 1171 papers and 160 posters presented at the 14 colocated HCII 2018 conferences. The papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 4346 submissions. These papers address the latest research and development efforts and highlight the human aspects of design and use of computing systems. The papers thoroughly cover the entire field of Human-Computer Interaction, addressing major advances in knowledge and effective use of computers in a variety of application areas.. The LNCS 10921 and LNCS 10922 contains papers addressing the following major topics: Technologies and Contexts ( Part I) and Understanding Humans (Part IΙ)

Making extensive use of examples, this textbook on Java programming teaches the fundamental skills for getting started in a command-line environment. Meant to be used for a one-semester course to build solid foundations in Java, Fundamentals of Java Programming eschews second-semester content to concentrate on over 180 code examples and 250 exercises.Key object classes (String, Scanner, PrintStream, Arrays, and File) are included to get started in Java programming. The programs are explained with almost line-by-line descriptions, also with chapter-by-chapter coding exercises.Teaching resources include solutions to the exercises, as well as digital lecture slides.

This book presents and discusses recent scientific progress on Cell and Stem Cell Engineering. It predominantly focuses on Biological, Physical and Technical Basics, and features new trends of research reaching far into the 21st century.

This book analyzes forms of architectures within the frame concept of geo-architecture, and looks into the interaction of architecture and its environment. It starts by discussing the collisions between architecture and geography, humanity, as well as other architectures and reflects on the ancient Chinese notion of emotional relief and expression through natural landscape. It then studies important transportation and scenic routes, like pavilions, towers, clan halls and villages within architectural systems. It also discusses the forms of geographic integration and isolation expressed through architecture, which reflects their historical and cultural context.This book is the first of a 4-volume book series. The series develops the innovative concept of “geo-architecture” by exploring the myriad influences of natural, human and historical factors upon architecture. These influences are considered in three categories, namely, interaction between architecture and nature, interactionbetween architecture and its human users and change in architecture over time--each category serves as a lens. Augmenting these lenses is the Time-Person-Place concept applied different geographic. The analysis ultimately focuses on two aspects: geographic influence on architecture and architectural response to geography. The over 1000 pictures of case architectures enriches the study with stunning and unique visual angles.'This unprecedented work will be a unique and valuable contribution to the literature. Integrating as it does the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and geography, Wang Fang's voice is original, compelling, and will be much appreciated by English-speaking readers (and inside China, too, I can only imagine.)'Stephen M Ervin Assistant Dean Graduate School of Design, Harvard University July 2nd, 2013'One reason for why there would be interest is because her research would fill some significant gaps in the literature.What is novel about Dr. Wang's series is that she further extends this intellectual project of looking at Chinese architecture through Chinese eyes, by taking it one provocative step further.'Annette M. Kim Associate Professor Department of Urban Studies and Planning, M.I.T. July 1st, 2013

This book provides an analysis, under both discrete-time and continuous-time frameworks, on the price dynamics of leveraged exchange-traded funds (LETFs), with emphasis on the roles of leverage ratio, realized volatility, investment horizon, and tracking errors. This study provides new insights on the risks associated with LETFs. It also leads to the discussion of new risk management concepts, such as admissible leverage ratios and admissible risk horizon, as well as the mathematical and empirical analyses of several trading strategies, including static portfolios, pairs trading, and stop-loss strategies involving ETFs and LETFs. The final part of the book addresses the pricing of options written on LETFs. Since different LETFs are designed to track the same reference index, these funds and their associated options share very similar sources of randomness. The authors provide a no-arbitrage pricing approach that consistently value options on LETFs with different leverage ratios withstochastic volatility and jumps in the reference index. Their results are useful for market making of these options, and for identifying price discrepancies across the LETF options markets. As the market of leveraged exchange-traded products become a sizeable connected part of the financial market, it is crucial to better understand its feedback effect and broader market impact. This is important not only for individual and institutional investors, but also for regulators.

The Light Metals symposia are a key part of the TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition, presenting the most recent developments, discoveries, and practices in primary aluminum science and technology. Publishing the proceedings from these important symposia, the Light Metals volume has become the definitive reference in the field of aluminum production and related light metal technologies. The 2016 collection includes papers from the following symposia: 1.Alumina and Bauxite 2.Aluminum Alloys, Processing, and Characterization 3.Aluminum Reduction Technology 4.Cast Shop Technology 5.Electrode Technology 6.Strip Casting

The World Health Organization states that depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and predicts that by 2030 the epidemic of depression raging across the world will be the single biggest contributor to the overall burden of disease of all health conditions. Yet this gloomy picture masks a number of paradoxes concerning the diagnosis and cultural interpretation of depression that appear to challenge the claimed prevalence rates on which it is based. This book's essays by some of the world's leading researchers and scholars on depression explores these anomalies in detail from multidisciplinary and multicultural perspectives, and in doing so reshapes the debate on the nature of depression that is currently under way in the US and abroad. At the book's core is the exploration from the multiple perspectives of a key dilemma: is the epidemic of depression real or is it just apparent? In particular, could it be the result of criteria laid down in the official American classification system of mental disorders, the DSM, interacting with cultural changes to reshape our view of melancholy, pathologizing what were formerly normal symptoms of grief or intense sadness? The debate over the DSM's conception of depression has an international relevance, with the WHO's upcoming revisions to its International Classification of Diseases requiring coordination with the DSM. This collection of perspectives has an unprecedented international dimension, as scholars from Europe and around the world join US academics to explore a central and controversial element of contemporary psychiatric diagnosis - and one that has enormous practical implications for the future of mental health care and how we view our emotions. The book's accessible essays will make it useful to scholars, practitioners, and students across a wide range of disciplines.

This book provides clear guidance as to which neuroradiological findings in ill or injured patients should be immediately communicated by radiologists and trainees to the emergency room and referring physicians in order to facilitate key decisions and eliminate preventable errors. It offers a practical and illustrative approach that identifies what to look for and how to report it and describes the required follow-up and the most common differential diagnoses of the main critical findings in neuroradiology. The book is distinctive in being written from a “critical findings perspective”, which makes its content more practical and memorable than that of a standard Emergency Neuroradiology textbook. It also illustrates the value of developing algorithmic approaches to report and communicate critical findings based on lists. While the book will appeal to a broad and variable audience, it is especially addressed to radiology training programs and will be a “must read” for residents and fellows in training.

This textbook provides a step-by-step approach to numerical methods in engineering modelling. The authors provide a consistent treatment of the topic, from the ground up, to reinforce for students that numerical methods are a set of mathematical modelling tools which allow engineers to represent real-world systems and compute features of these systems with a predictable error rate. Each method presented addresses a specific type of problem, namely root-finding, optimization, integral, derivative, initial value problem, or boundary value problem, and each one encompasses a set of algorithms to solve the problem given some information and to a known error bound. The authors demonstrate that after developing a proper model and understanding of the engineering situation they are working on, engineers can break down a model into a set of specific mathematical problems, and then implement the appropriate numerical methods to solve these problems.

These proceedings comprise invited and contributed papers presented at the 14th International Conference on X-Ray Lasers (ICXRL 2014). This conference is part of a continuing series dedicated to recent developments and applications of x-ray lasers and other coherent x-ray sources with attention to supporting technologies and instrumentation.New results in the generation of intense, coherent x-rays and progress toward practical devices and their applications in numerous fields are reported. Areas of research in plasma-based x-ray lasers, 4th generation accelerator-based sources and higher harmonic generation, and other x-ray generation schemes are covered. The scope of ICXRL 2014 included, but was not limited to:Laser-pumped X-ray lasersDischarge excitation and other X-ray laser pumping methodsInjection/seeding of X-ray amplifiersNew lasing transitions and novel X-ray laser schemesHigh Harmonic sources-Free-electron laser generation in the XUV and X-ray rangeNovel schemes for coherent XUV and X-ray generationXUV and X-ray optics and metrology-Driving laser technologyTheory and modeling of X-ray gain medium and beam characteristicsApplicationsof high brightness and ultrashort X-ray sources

This volume is a collection of chapters covering the latest developments in applications of financial mathematics and statistics to topics in energy, commodity financial markets and environmental economics. The research presented is based on the presentations and discussions that took place during the Fields Institute Focus Program on Commodities, Energy and Environmental Finance in August 2013. The authors include applied mathematicians, economists and industry practitioners, providing for a multi-disciplinary spectrum of perspectives on the subject. The volume consists of four sections: Electricity Markets; Real Options; Trading in Commodity Markets; and Oligopolistic Models for Energy Production. Taken together, the chapters give a comprehensive summary of the current state of the art in quantitative analysis of commodities and energy finance. The topics covered include structural models of electricity markets, financialization of commodities, valuation of commodity real options, game-theory analysis of exhaustible resource management and analysis of commodity ETFs. The volume also includes two survey articles that provide a source for new researchers interested in getting into these topics.

The advent of multi-core architectures and cloud-computing has brought parallel programming into the mainstream of software development. Unfortunately, writing scalable parallel programs using traditional lock-based synchronization primitives is well known to be a hard, time consuming and error-prone task, mastered by only a minority of specialized programmers. Building on the familiar abstraction of atomic transactions, Transactional Memory (TM) promises to free programmers from the complexity of conventional synchronization schemes, simplifying the development and verification of concurrent programs, enhancing code reliability, and boosting productivity. Over the last decade TM has been subject to intense research on a broad range of aspects including hardware and operating systems support, language integration, as well as algorithms and theoretical foundations. On the industrial side, the major players of the software and hardware markets have been up-front in the research and development of prototypal products providing support for TM systems. This has recently led to the introduction of hardware TM implementations on mainstream commercial microprocessors and to the integration of TM support for the world's leading open source compiler. In such a vast inter-disciplinary domain, the Euro-TM COST Action (IC1001) has served as a catalyzer and a bridge for the various research communities looking at disparate, yet subtly interconnected, aspects of TM. This book emerged from the idea having Euro-TM experts compile recent results in the TM area in a single and consistent volume. Contributions have been carefully selected and revised to provide a broad coverage of several fundamental issues associated with the design and implementation of TM systems, including their theoretical underpinnings and algorithmic foundations, programming language integration and verification tools, hardware supports, distributed TM systems, self-tuning mechanisms, as well as lessonslearnt from building complex TM-based applications.

Proceedings of the First Symposium on Aviation Maintenance and Management collects selected papers from the conference of ISAMM 2013 in China held in Xi'an on November 25-28, 2013. The book presents state-of-the-art studies on the aviation maintenance, test, fault diagnosis, and prognosis for the aircraft electronic and electrical systems. The selected works can help promote the development of the maintenance and test technology for the aircraft complex systems. Researchers and engineers in the fields of electrical engineering and aerospace engineering can benefit from the book.Jinsong Wang is a professor at School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering of Northwestern Polytechnical University, China.

The book is devoted to systems with discontinuous control. The study of discontinuous dynamic systems is a multifacet problem which embraces mathematical, control theoretic and application aspects. Times and again, this problem has been approached by mathematicians, physicists and engineers, each profession treating it from its own positions. Interestingly, the results obtained by specialists in different disciplines have almost always had a significant effect upon the development of the control theory. It suffices to mention works on the theory of oscillations of discontinuous nonlinear systems, mathematical studies in ordinary differential equations with discontinuous righthand parts or variational problems in nonclassic statements. The unremitting interest to discontinuous control systems enhanced by their effective application to solution of problems most diverse in their physical nature and functional purpose is, in the author's opinion, a cogent argument in favour of the importance of this area of studies. It seems a useful effort to consider, from a control theoretic viewpoint, the mathematical and application aspects of the theory of discontinuous dynamic systems and determine their place within the scope of the present-day control theory. The first attempt was made by the author in 1975-1976 in his course on'The Theory of Discontinuous Dynamic Systems'and'The Theory of Variable Structure Systems'read to post-graduates at the University of Illinois, USA, and then presented in 1978-1979 at the seminars held in the Laboratory of Systems with Discontinous Control at the Institute of Control Sciences in Moscow.

An Institute like ours cannot help but lend credence to the notion of the late Derek J. de Solla Price of Yale University that'the scientific revolution was largely the improvement, invention and use of a series of instruments.... that expanded the reach of science in innumerable directions'. Most of science today and in years gone by depends on the experimental observation of struc­ ture on the small scale with microscopes, and on the large scale with telescopes. The first instruments to expand the observational range of the human eye were simple optical systems, designed in the case of microscopes and telescopes to magnify the image. The big breakthrough in the 17th century was not when Galileo first turned his telescope to the heavens, but when improvements in lens-grinding techniques allowed eyeglass makers to make the first telescope. Early microscopy revealed new and previously unsuspected microstruc­ tures in biological and non-biological materials and thus helped to enlarge on the understanding of the relationship between structure and properties. The natural inclination of all microscopists, the desire to observe ever smaller structures, was satisfied by the construction of higher quality optical systems which reduced the aberrations limiting the usable magnification. The modem optical microscope is the result of this evolution in design and construction, and it can be operated easily to achieve close to the theoretical resolution.

The main subject of this book is circuit design of silicon optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEICs). The essential features of optical absorption are summarized, as is the device physics of photodetectors and their integration in modern bipolar, CMOS, and BiCMOS technologies. This information provides the basis for understanding the underlying mechanisms of the OEICs described in the main part of the book. In order to cover the topic comprehensively, Silicon Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits presents detailed descriptions of many OEICs for a wide variety of applications from various optical sensors, smart sensors, 3D-cameras, and optical storage systems (DVD) to fiber receivers in deep-sub-µm CMOS. Numerous elaborate illustrations help to elucidate the material

Mosquitoes and their Control presents a multitude of information on bionomics, systematics, ecology and control of both pestiferous (nuisance) and disease vectors in an easily readable style providing practical guidance and important information to both professional and layman alike. Ninety-two species and subspecies belonging to 8 genera and 18 subgenera are described in the fully illustrated identification keys to adult females and males and fourth-instar larvae. The illustrated keys are followed by a detailed description of the morphology, biology and distribution of each species including over 700 detailed drawings.

The aim of this book is to serve as a design reference for students and as an up-to-date reference for researchers. It also acts as an excellent introduction for newcomers to the field and offers established rf/microwave engineers a comprehensive refresher. The content is roughly classified into two – the first two chapters provide the necessary fundamentals, while the last three chapters focus on design and applications. Chapter 2 covers detailed treatment of transmission lines. The Smith chart is utilized in this chapter as an important tool in the synthesis of matching networks for microwave amplifiers. Chapter 3 contains an exhaustive review of microstrip circuits, culled from various references. Chapter 4 offers practical design information on solid state amplifiers, while Chapter 5 contains topics on the design of modern planar filters, some of which were seldom published previously. A set of problems at the end of each chapter provides the readers with exercises which are compiled from actual university exam questions. An extensive list of references is available at the end of each chapter to enable readers to obtain further information on the topics covered.

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.

The erratic motion of pollen grains and other tiny particles suspended in liquid is known as Brownian motion, after its discoverer, Robert Brown, a botanist who worked in 1828, in London. He turned over the problem of why this motion occurred to physicists who were investigating kinetic theory and thermodynamics; at a time when the existence of molecules had yet to be established. In 1900, Henri Poincare lectured on this topic to the 1900 International Congress of Physicists, in Paris [Wic95]. At this time, Louis Bachelier, a thesis student of Poincare, made a monumental breakthrough with his Theory of Stock Market Fluctuations, which is still studied today, [Co064]. Norbert Wiener (1923), who was first to formulate a rigorous concept of the Brownian path, is most often cited by mathematicians as the father of the subject, while physicists will cite A. Einstein (1905) and M. Smoluchowski. Both considered Markov diffusions and realized that Brownian behaviour nd could be formulated in terms of parabolic 2 order linear p. d. e.'so Further­ more, from this perspective, the covariance of changes in position could be allowed to depend on the position itself, according to the invariant form of the diffusion introduced by Kolmogorov in 1937, [KoI37]. Thus, any time­ homogeneous Markov diffusion could be written in terms of the Laplacian, intrinsically given by the symbol (covariance) of the p. d. e., plus a drift vec­ tor. The theory was further advanced in 1949, when K.

`In contrast to common practice, we have always tried to include as many discussions held at the meeting in our proceedings as possible, so as to enable readers to properly evaluate each paper presented, as well as to learn of future prospects in this field of research. Although the policy of including discussions occasions a long publication delay, we believe that it is worth repeating in our future publication, as we have met a number of young investigators fascinated by the discussions in our proceedings.... In the concluding remarks in this volume, Dr. Hugh E. Huxley, a principal architect of the sliding filament mechanism of muscle contraction, states that the molecular mechanism of myofilament sliding remains mysterious to all of us. We hope that this volume will stimulate muscle investigators to design and perform novel experiments to clarify the mysteries in muscle contraction.'Haruo Sugi and Gerald H. Pollack, excerpted from the Preface.

The German original of this Handbook of Loss Prevention was compiled during the course of many years'work by the engineers of the Department for Engineering Insurances, the scientists of the Allianz Centre for Technology and representatives of industry. It is based on the loss experience and practical loss research studies of­ the Allianz over a period of more than five decades. The Handbook of Loss Prevention is a supplement to the technical literature from the field of engineering in the form of a collective work comprising examples of damage to machinery and technical plant and pertinent pointers on loss prevention. It hus ranks among the recognised handbooks for engineers in the filds of planning, design, manufacture and operation. The great interest and wide acclaim according the German edition of this handbook by industry in 1972 confirm the traditional aims of the Allianz in placing loss prevention in technical plants in the foreground of their service to clients. The English edition of the handbook under review here enables this valuable engineering know-how to be made available at international level, with the object of preventing losses by the exchange of ideas and experience. The literature references have been taken over from the German edition in unchanged form, in order to bring to the atten­ tion of English-speaking experts a bibliography, which is little known outside Germany.

Space missions subject human beings or any other target of a spacecraft to a radiation environment of an intensity and composition not available on earth. Whereas for missions in low earth orbit (LEO), such as those using the Space Shuttle or Space Station scenario, radiation exposure guidelines have been developed and have been adopted by spacefaring agencies, for exploratory class missions that will take the space travellers outside the protective confines of the geomagnetic field sufficient guidelines for radiation protection are still outstanding. For a piloted Mars mission, the whole concept of radiation protection needs to be reconsidered. Since there is an increasing interest of many nations and space agencies in establishing a lunar base and lor exploring Mars by manned missions, it is both, timely and important to develop appropriate risk estimates and radiation protection guidelines which will have an influence on the design and structure of space vehicles and habitation areas of the extraterrestrial settlements. This book is the result of a multidisciplinary effort to assess the state of art in our knowledge on the radiation situation during deep space missions and on the impact of this complex radiation environment on the space traveller. It comprises the lectures by the faculty members as well as short contributions by the students given at the NATO Advanced Study Institute'Biological Effects and Physics of Solar and Galactic Cosmic Radiation'held in Armacao de Pera, Portugal, 12-23 October, 1991.

'Introduction to Computational Science'was developed over a period of two years at the University of Utah Department of Computer Science in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy-funded Undergraduate Computation in Engineering Science (UCES) program. Each chapter begins by introducing a problem and then guiding the student through its solution. The computational techniques needed to solve the problem are developed as necassary, making the motivation for learning the computing alwasy apparent. Each chapter will introduce a single problem that will be used to motivate a single computing concept. The notes currently consist of 15 chapters. The first seven chapters deal with Maple and the last eight with C. The textbook will contain 20 to 30 chapters covering a similar mix of concepts at a finer level of detail.

This book aims to provide the trainee and practicing minimally invasive neurological therapist with a comprehensive understanding of the background science and theory that forms the foundation of their work. The contents are based on the tutorial teaching techniques used at the University of Oxford and are authored by the MSc Course Director. The tutorial is a learning episode focussed on a particular topic and intended to guide the student/reader through the background literature, to highlight the research on which standard practices are based and to provide the insights of an experienced practitioner. Each chapter of the book covers a different topic to build a complete review of the subspecialty, with in-depth discussion of all currently used techniques. The literature is reviewed and presented in context to illustrate its importance to the practice of this rapidly expanding field of medical treatment.

Since the introduction of laser technology into medicine, quite a number of clinical applications in orthopaedics have been developed. This text is the first to provide comprehensive guidelines and how-to-do instructions for the application of lasers in orthopaedics. These cover patient selection and decision-making as well as the benefits and risks of the clinical application of lasers in arthroscopic surgery, spine surgery and open surgery. An overview is given on the basics of laser technology and the various laser types are evaluated in terms of optimal use.

IAU Symposium No. 167 brought together researchers who use CCDs and arrays, designers and manufacturers of CCDs and Array Mosaics and those who write the software to control these devices and to reduce the large amounts of data contained in each frame. At the meeting such topics as plans for applying the new technology to the new large telescopes that have been built recently and those planned in the near future, new developments in infrared arrays, advances and concerns with the use of CCDs in photometry and spectroscopy and the creation of large mosaics in photometry and spectroscopy and the creation of large mosaics of chips which allow larger areas of the sky to be covered in a single frame were discussed. There were sessions devoted to the following topics: New Developments in CCD Technology; New Developments in IR Detector Arrays; Direct Imaging with CCDs and Other Arrays; Spectroscopy with CCDs and Other Arrays; and Large Field Imaging with Array Mosaics. Scientific results of studies made with this technology were covered in the poster sessions. CCD and Array Detectors have become the detectors of choice at all the world's optical observatories. Such instruments on small university and college telescopes have turned these telescopes into instruments that can now do observations which in the past were done only on the largest telescopes. CCDs and Arrays are known as `the people's detector'because of their ability to turn small telescopes into true research instruments. On large telescopes observations can be made of extremely faint and crowded objects that were impossible to observe before the advent of CCD and Array technology. The proceedings of this meeting will be useful to all those who are interested in the design, manufacture and use of CCDs and Arrays for astronomical observations.

New Antisense Strategies: Chemical Synthesis of RNA Oligomers, by Junichi Yano und Gerald E. Smyth Development and Modification of Decoy Oligodeoxynucleotides for Clinical Application, by Mariana Kiomy Osako, Hironori Nakagami und Ryuichi Morishita Modulation of Endosomal Toll-Like Receptor-Mediated Immune Responses by Synthetic Oligonucleotides, by Ekambar R. Kandimalla und Sudhir Agrawal Delivery of Nucleic Acid Drugs, by Yan Lee und Kazunori Kataoka Aptamer: Biology to Applications, by Yoshikazu Nakamura Development and Clinical Applications of Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, by Veenu Aishwarya, Anna Kalota und Alan M. Gewirtz

The papers collected in this volume are those presented at the eleventh Colloquium arranged by the Societe Universitaire Europeenne de Recherches Financieres (SUERF) which took place in Madrid in October 1983. The Society is supported by a large number of central banks, commercial banks and other financial and business institutions, by treasury officials and by academics and others interested in monetary and financial problems. Since its establishment in 1963 it has developed as a forum for the exchange of informa­ tion, research results and ideas, valued by academics and practitioners in these fields, including central bank officials and civil servants responsible for formulat­ ing and applying monetary and financial policies. A major activity of SUERF is to organize and conduct Colloquia on sub­ jects of topical interest to members. The titles, places and dates of previous Col­ loquia for which volumes of the collected Papers were published are noted on the last page of this volume. Volumes were not produced for Colloquia held at Tarra­ gona, Spain in October 1970 under the title'Monetary Policy and New Develop­ ments in Banking'and at Strasbourg, France in January 1972 under the title'Aspects of European Monetary Union'.

Lectures and Structured Symposia

Plant breeding, the domestication and systematic improvement of crop species, is the basis of past and present agriculture. Our so­ called primitive progenitors selected practically all our present-day crop plants, and the improvement wrought through millenia of selection has so changed some of them that in many cases their links to the past have been obliterated. There is no doubt that this ranks among the greatest of human achievements. Although plant breeding has been a continuous empirical activity for as long as humans have forsaken the vagaries and thrill of hunting for the security and toil of agriculture, genetic crop improvement is now very much of a twentieth-century discipline. Its scientific underpinnings date to the beginning of this century with the discovery of Gregor Mendel's classic 1865 paper on the inheritance of seven characters in the garden pea. If any science can be traced to single event, the best example is surely found in the conception of modern genetics that appears in this single creative work. The relationship of plant breeding progress to advances in genetics has become closely entwined. Mendel himself was concerned with crop improvement and worked on schemes for apple and pear breeding. Plant breeding also has claims on other scientific and agricultural disci­ plines-botany, plant pathology, biochemistry, statistics, taxonomy, entomology, and cytology, to name a few-and has also impinged on our social, ethical, economic, and political consciousness.

Pitch (i.e., fundamental frequency FO and fundamental period TO) occupies a key position in the acoustic speech signal. The prosodic information of an utterance is predominantly determined by this parameter. The ear is more sensitive to changes of fundamental frequency than to changes of other speech signal parameters by an order of magnitude. The quality of vocoded speech is essentially influenced by the quality and faultlessness of the pitch measure­ ment. Hence the importance of this parameter necessitates using good and reliable measurement methods. At first glance the task looks simple: one just has to detect the funda­ mental frequency or period of a quasi-periodic signal. For a number of reasons, however, the task of pitch determination has to be counted among the most difficult problems in speech analysis. 1) In principle, speech is a nonstationary process; the momentary position of the vocal tract may change abruptly at any time. This leads to drastic variations in the temporal structure of the signal, even between subsequent pitch periods, and assuming a quasi-periodic signal is often far from realistic. 2) Due to the flexibility of the human vocal tract and the wide variety of voices, there exist a multitude of possible temporal structures. Narrow-band formants at low harmonics (especially at the second or third harmonic) are an additional source of difficulty. 3) For an arbitrary speech signal uttered by an unknown speaker, the fundamental frequency can vary over a range of almost four octaves (50 to 800 Hz).