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Virtual Colonoscopy and Abdominal Imaging: Second International Workshop, Held in Conjunction with MICCAI 2010, Beijing, China, September 20, 2010, Revised Selected Papers (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #6668)
by Hiroyuki Yoshida Wenli CaiThis book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the International Workshop on Computational Challenges and Clinical Opportunities in Virtual Colonoscopy and Abdominal Imaging, held in conjunction with MICCAI 2010, in Beijing, China, on September 20, 2010. The 19 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 26 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on CT colonography CAD, abdominal imaging, and virtual colonoscopy.
Emerging and Priority Pollutants in Rivers: Bringing Science into River Management Plans (The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry #19)
by Helena Guasch, Antoni Ginebreda and Anita GeiszingerThe enduring changes in the aquatic environment and the increasing influx of contaminants call for novel conceptual and methodological approaches to relating chemical pollution and ecological alterations in ecosystems. This volume highlights the latest advances concerning the sampling, analyses, occurrence, bioavailability, and effects of emerging and priority pollutants in European rivers, the current status of the River Management Plans in Europe, and the applicability of the newly developed techniques for water monitoring purposes. The topics are discussed in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive, evaluating their shortcomings and providing a basis for doing away with them. Linking scientific research and river management practices, this book is an invaluable source of information for environmental chemists, aquatic scientists, ecologists and water managers.
RNA 3D Structure Analysis and Prediction (Nucleic Acids and Molecular Biology #27)
by Neocles Leontis and Eric WesthofWith the dramatic increase in RNA 3D structure determination in recent years, we now know that RNA molecules are highly structured. Moreover, knowledge of RNA 3D structures has proven crucial for understanding in atomic detail how they carry out their biological functions. Because of the huge number of potentially important RNA molecules in biology, many more than can be studied experimentally, we need theoretical approaches for predicting 3D structures on the basis of sequences alone. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of current progress in the field by leading practitioners employing a variety of methods to model RNA 3D structures by homology, by fragment assembly, and by de novo energy and knowledge-based approaches.
Analytic Methods of Sound Field Synthesis (T-Labs Series in Telecommunication Services)
by Jens AhrensThis book puts the focus on serving human listeners in the sound field synthesis although the approach can be also exploited in other applications such as underwater acoustics or ultrasonics. The author derives a fundamental formulation based on standard integral equations and the single-layer potential approach is identified as a useful tool in order to derive a general solution. He also proposes extensions to the single-layer potential approach which allow for a derivation of explicit solutions for circular, planar, and linear distributions of secondary sources. Based on above described formulation it is shown that the two established analytical approaches of Wave Field Synthesis and Near-field Compensated Higher Order Ambisonics constitute specific solutions to the general problem which are covered by the single-layer potential solution and its extensions.
Current Antipsychotics (Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology #212)
by Gerhard Gross and Mark A. GeyerSix decades after the serendipitous discovery of chlorpromazine as an antipsychotic and four decades after the launch of clozapine, the first atypical or second generation antipsychotic, psychopharmacology has arrived at an important crossroad. It is clear that pharmacological research and pharmaceutical development must now focus on complementary or even alternative mechanisms of action to address unmet medical needs, i.e. poorly treated domains of schizophrenia, improved acceptance by patients, better adherence to medication, safety in psychoses in demented patients, and avoiding cardiac and metabolic adverse effects. The first completely novel mechanisms evolving from our insights into the pathophysiology of psychotic disorders, especially the role of glutamatergic mechanisms in schizophrenia, are now under development, and further principles are on the horizon. This situation, in many respects similar to that when the initial second-generation antipsychotics became available, can be rewarding for all. Preclinical and clinical researchers now have the opportunity to confirm their hypotheses and the pharmaceutical industry may be able to develop really novel classes of therapeutics. When we were approached by the publishers of the Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology to prepare a new volume on antipsychotics, our intention was to capture both, the accumulated preclinical and clinical knowledge about current antipsychotics as well as prospects for new and potentially more specific antischizophrenia principles. These efforts should be based on the pathophysiology of the diseases and the affected neurotransmitter systems. Since preclinical research on antipsychotic compounds is only reliable when intimately linked through translational aspects to clinical results, we decided to include clinical science as well. It turned out that that this endeavor could not be covered by a single volume. We thank the editorial board and the publishers for supporting our decision to prepare two volumes: Current Antipsychotics and Novel Antischizophrenia Treatments. These topics cannot really be separated from one another and should be seen as a composite entity despite the somewhat arbitrary separation of contributions into two volumes. The continuing challenges of developing improved and safer antipsychotic medications remain of concern and are discussed in the first volume. The new opportunities for the field to develop and license adjunctive treatments for the negative symptoms and cognitive deficits that are treated inadequately by existing compounds have been incentivized recently and provide the focus for the second volume. We hope these collective contributions will facilitate the development of improved treatments for the full range of symptomatology seen in the group of schizophrenias and other major psychotic disorders.Gerhard Gross, Ludwigshafen, GermanyMark A. Geyer, La Jolla, CAThis volume will try to put current therapy - achievements, shortcomings, remaining medical needs - and emerging new targets into the context of increasing knowledge regarding the genetic and neurodevelopmental contributions to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Some of the chapters will also deal with respective experimental and clinical methodology, biomarkers, and translational aspects of drug development. Non-schizophrenia indications will be covered to some extent, but not exhaustively.
Elektrische und magnetische Felder: Eine praxisorientierte Einführung
by Marlene MarinescuDas Lehrbuch bietet eine kompakte, praxisorientierte und verständlich geschriebene Einführung in ein schwieriges Grundlagengebiet der Elektrotechnik. Von besonderem Wert sind die mit modernen numerischen Verfahren generierten Abbildungen sowie die zahlreichen durchgerechneten Beispiele. Die 2. Auflage wurde vollständig neu bearbeitet und bietet einen Anhang zur Anwendung numerischer Verfahren bei der Berechnung von Magnetfeldern. Mit vielen neuen durchgerechneten Beispielen, zusätzliche Aufgaben mit ausführlichen Lösungen stehen im Internet bereit.
Grundkurs Theoretische Physik 7: Viel-Teilchen-Theorie (Springer-Lehrbuch)
by Wolfgang NoltingDer Grundkurs Theoretische Physik deckt in 7 Bänden alle für das Diplom und für Bachelor/Master-Studiengänge maßgeblichen Gebiete ab. Jeder Band vermittelt das im jeweiligen Semester notwendige theoretisch-physikalische Rüstzeug. Übungsaufgaben mit ausführlichen Lösungen dienen der Vertiefung des Stoffs. Die grundlegend überarbeitete Neuauflage des 7. Bandes wurde um weitere Aufgaben sowie Abschnitte zur Hochenergiephysik ergänzt. Mit der zweifarbigen Darstellung ist der Lehrstoff nun noch übersichtlicher gegliedert.
Clusters in Automotive and Information & Communication Technology: Innovation, Multinationalization and Networking Dynamics
by Paul J.J. WelfensInformation & communication technology (ICT) and the automotive sector are two of the most important industries in the EU and the US. The EU’s eastern expansion and economic globalization have reinforced competition on the one hand; on the other hand the importance of outsourcing and off-shoring has increased. Against this background the intensification of innovation dynamics becomes crucial – and with them the role of regional innovation clusters. The analysis examines seven regions and six EU countries. The focus is on cluster and network dynamics in both industries, as regional ICT clusters are playing an increasingly central role in many European regions. Specialization and structural change in the automotive sector are highlighted, and new strategic approaches for multinational companies and changes in policy options are identified.
Phytohormones and Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants
by Nafees A. Khan, Rahat Nazar, Noushina Iqbal and Naser A. AnjumPlants are sessile and prone to multiple stresses in the changing environmental conditions. Of the several strategies adopted by plants to counteract the adverse effects of abiotic stress, phytohormones provide signals to allow plants to survive under stress conditions. They are one of the key systems integrating metabolic and developmental events in the whole plant and the response of plants to external factors and are essential for many processes throughout the life of a plant and influence the yield and quality of crops. The book ‘Phytohormones and Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants’ summarizes the current body of knowledge on crosstalk between plant stresses under the influence of phytohormones, and provides state-of-the-art knowledge of recent developments in understanding the role of phytohormones and abiotic stress tolerance in plants. This book presents information on how modulation in phytohormone levels affect regulation of biochemical and molecular mechanisms.
Handbook of Technical Diagnostics: Fundamentals and Application to Structures and Systems
by Horst CzichosThis book presents concepts, methods and techniques to examine symptoms of faults and failures of structures, systems and components and to monitor functional performance and structural integrity. The book is organized in five parts. Part A introduces the scope and application of technical diagnostics and gives a comprehensive overview of the physics of failure. Part B presents all relevant methods and techniques for diagnostics and monitoring: from stress, strain, vibration analysis, nondestructive evaluation, thermography and industrial radiology to computed tomography and subsurface microstructural analysis. Part C cores the principles and concepts of technical failure analysis, illustrates case studies, and outlines machinery diagnostics with an emphasis on tribological systems. Part D describes the application of structural health monitoring and performance control to plants and the technical infrastructure, including buildings, bridges, pipelines, electric power stations, offshore wind structures, and railway systems. And finally, Part E is an excursion on diagnostics in arts and culture. The book integrates knowledge of basic sciences and engineering disciplines with contributions from research institutions, academe, and industry, written by internationally known experts from various parts of the world, including Europe, Canada, India, Japan, and USA.
The Augmented Spherical Wave Method: A Comprehensive Treatment (Lecture Notes in Physics #849)
by Volker EyertThe Augmented Spherical Wave (ASW) method is one of the most powerful approaches to handle the requirements of finite basis sets in DFT calculations. It is particularly suited for the calculation of the electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of solid-state materials. Recent developments allow application, in addition, to the elastic properties and phonon spectra. Due to the localized nature of the ASW basis set these properties can be easily interpreted in terms of atomic-like orbitals. The book addresses all those who want to learn about methods for electronic structure calculations and the ASW method in particular. This new edition has been thoroughly revised and extended. In particular, a chapter on the new, both very efficient and accurate spherical-wave based full potential ASW method has been added.
Computational Fluid Dynamics Based on the Unified Coordinates
by Wai-How Hui Kun Xu"Computational Fluid Dynamics Based on the Unified Coordinates" reviews the relative advantages and drawbacks of Eulerian and Lagrangian coordinates as well as the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) and various moving mesh methods in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for one- and multi-dimensional flows. It then systematically introduces the unified coordinate approach to CFD, illustrated with numerous examples and comparisons to clarify its relation with existing approaches. The book is intended for researchers, graduate students and practitioners in the field of Computational Fluid Dynamics. Emeritus Professor Wai-Hou Hui and Professor Kun Xu both work at the Department of Mathematics of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Hong Kong, China.
Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing Systems (Sustainable Production, Life Cycle Engineering and Management)
by Sebastian ThiedeEnergy consumption is of great interest to manufacturing companies. Beyond considering individual processes and machines, the perspective on process chains and factories as a whole holds major potentials for energy efficiency improvements. To exploit these potentials, dynamic interactions of different processes as well as auxiliary equipment (e.g. compressed air generation) need to be taken into account. In addition, planning and controlling manufacturing systems require balancing technical, economic and environmental objectives. Therefore, an innovative and comprehensive methodology – with a generic energy flow-oriented manufacturing simulation environment as a core element – is developed and embedded into a step-by-step application cycle. The concept is applied in its entirety to a wide range of case studies such as aluminium die casting, weaving mills, and printed circuit board assembly in order to demonstrate the broad applicability and the benefits that can be achieved.
Strings and Fundamental Physics (Lecture Notes in Physics #851)
by Marco Baumgartl Ilka Brunner Michael HaackThe basic idea, simple and revolutionary at the same time, to replace the concept of a point particle with a one-dimensional string, has opened up a whole new field of research. Even today, four decades later, its multifaceted consequences are still not fully conceivable. Up to now string theory has offered a new way to view each particle: as different excitations of the same fundamental object. It has celebrated success in discovering the graviton in its spectrum, and it has naturally led scientists to posit space-times with more than four dimensions—which in turn has triggered numerous interesting developments in fields as varied as condensed matter physics and pure mathematics.This book collects pedagogical lectures by leading experts in string theory, introducing the non-specialist reader to some of the newest developments in the field. The carefully selected topics are at the cutting edge of research in string theory and include new developments in topological strings, or AdS/CFT dualities, as well as newly emerging subfields such as doubled field theory and holography in the hydrodynamic regime.The contributions to this book have been selected and arranged in such a way as to form a self-contained, graduate level textbook.
Einführung in Eis-, Schnee- und Lawinenmechanik
by Wolfgang FellinDas Buch bietet eine Einführung in die Schnee-, Eis- und Lawinenmechanik. Die physikalischen Grundlagen zum Verständnis des mechanischen Verhaltens von Schnee und Eis sowie ein- und mehrdimensionale Modelle zur Beschreibung ihres Verhaltens werden dargestellt. Anhand dieser Modelle lassen sich typische Aufgaben der alpinen Bautechnik bearbeiten. Ziel ist es, ein Verständnis der mechanischen Modellierung zu vermitteln, das Anwender vor der Black-Box-Anwendung aktueller Simulationssoftware bewahrt.
Inference for Diffusion Processes: With Applications in Life Sciences
by Christiane FuchsDiffusion processes are a promising instrument for realistically modelling the time-continuous evolution of phenomena not only in the natural sciences but also in finance and economics. Their mathematical theory, however, is challenging, and hence diffusion modelling is often carried out incorrectly, and the according statistical inference is considered almost exclusively by theoreticians. This book explains both topics in an illustrative way which also addresses practitioners. It provides a complete overview of the current state of research and presents important, novel insights. The theory is demonstrated using real data applications.
Spherical Harmonics and Approximations on the Unit Sphere: An Introduction (Lecture Notes in Mathematics #2044)
by Kendall Atkinson Weimin HanThese notes provide an introduction to the theory of spherical harmonics in an arbitrary dimension as well as an overview of classical and recent results on some aspects of the approximation of functions by spherical polynomials and numerical integration over the unit sphere. The notes are intended for graduate students in the mathematical sciences and researchers who are interested in solving problems involving partial differential and integral equations on the unit sphere, especially on the unit sphere in three-dimensional Euclidean space. Some related work for approximation on the unit disk in the plane is also briefly discussed, with results being generalizable to the unit ball in more dimensions.
Peptide-Based Materials (Topics in Current Chemistry #310)
by Timothy DemingSynthesis of Polypeptides by Ring-Opening Polymerization of α-Amino Acid N-Carboxyanhydrides, by Jianjun Cheng and Timothy J. Deming.- Peptide Synthesis and Self-Assembly, by S. Maude, L. R. Tai, R. P. W. Davies, B. Liu, S. A. Harris, P. J. Kocienski and A. Aggeli.- Elastomeric Polypeptides, by Mark B. van Eldijk, Christopher L. McGann, Kristi L. Kiick andJan C. M. van Hest.- Self-Assembled Polypeptide and Polypeptide Hybrid Vesicles: From Synthesis to Application, by Uh-Joo Choe, Victor Z. Sun, James-Kevin Y. Tan and Daniel T. Kamei.- Peptide-Based and Polypeptide-Based Hydrogels for Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering, by Aysegul Altunbas and Darrin J. Pochan.-
Synthetic Biodegradable Polymers (Advances in Polymer Science #245)
by Bernhard Rieger, Andreas Künkel, Geoffrey W. Coates, Robert Reichardt, Eckhard Dinjus and Thomas A. ZevacoSalen Metal Complexes as Catalysts for the Synthesis of Polycarbonates from Cyclic Ethers and Carbon Dioxide, by Donald J. Darensbourg.- Material Properties of Poly(Propylene Carbonates), by Gerrit. A. Luinstra and Endres Borchardt.- Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate) from Carbon Monoxide, by Robert Reichardt and Bernhard Rieger. - Ecoflex® and Ecovio®: Biodegradable, Performance-Enabling Plastics, by K. O. Siegenthaler, A. Künkel, G. Skupin and M. Yamamoto.- Biodegradability of Poly(Vinyl Acetate) and Related Polymers, by Manfred Amann and Oliver Minge.- Recent Developments in Ring-Opening Polymerization of Lactones, by P. Lecomte and C. Jérôme.- Recent Developments in Metal-Catalyzed Ring-Opening Polymerization of Lactides and Glycolides: Preparation of Polylactides, Polyglycolide, and Poly(lactide-co-glycolide), by Saikat Dutta, Wen-Chou Hung, Bor-Hunn Huang and Chu-Chieh Lin.- Bionolle (Polybutylenesuccinate), by Yasushi Ichikawa, Tatsuya Mizukoshi.- Polyurethanes from Renewable Resources, by David A. Babb.-
Novel Sampling Approaches in Higher Dimensional NMR (Topics in Current Chemistry #316)
by Martin Billeter and Vladislav OrekhovConcepts in Projection-Reconstruction, by Ray Freeman and Ēriks Kupče.- Automated Projection Spectroscopy and Its Applications, by Sebastian Hiller and Gerhard Wider.- Data Sampling in Multidimensional NMR: Fundamentals and Strategies, by Mark W. Maciejewski, Mehdi Mobli, Adam D. Schuyler, Alan S. Stern and Jeffrey C. Hoch.- Generalized Fourier Transform for Non-Uniform Sampled Data, by Krzysztof Kazimierczuk, Maria Misiak, Jan Stanek, Anna Zawadzka-Kazimierczuk and Wiktor Koźmiński.- Applications of Non-Uniform Sampling and Processing, by Sven G. Hyberts, Haribabu Arthanari and Gerhard Wagner
Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical Processes in Porous Media: Benchmarks and Examples (Lecture Notes in Computational Science and Engineering #86)
by Olaf Kolditz Uwe-Jens Görke Hua Shao Wenqing WangThe book comprises an assembly of benchmarks and examples for porous media mechanics collected over the last twenty years. Analysis of thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes is essential to many applications in environmental engineering, such as geological waste deposition, geothermal energy utilisation, carbon capture and storage, water resources management, hydrology, even climate chance. In order to assess the feasibility as well as the safety of geotechnical applications, process-based modelling is the only tool to put numbers, i.e. to quantify future scenarios. This charges a huge responsibility concerning the reliability of computational tools. Benchmarking is an appropriate methodology to verify the quality of modelling tools based on best practices. Moreover, benchmarking and code comparison foster community efforts. The benchmark book is part of the OpenGeoSys initiative - an open source project to share knowledge and experience in environmental analysis and scientific computation.
Total Synthesis of Plakortide E and Biomimetic Synthesis of Plakortone B (Springer Theses)
by Xiao-Yu SunIn his thesis, Xiaoyu Sun conducts the first total synthesis of all possible stereoisomers of plakortide E and also confirms the absolute configuration of natural plakortide E. Xiaoyu Sun subsequently converts Plakortide E methyl ester to plakortone B in a biomimetic conversion. Construction and functionalization of cyclic peroxides are notoriously difficult due to the very low O-O bond dissociation energy. Plaktoride E is isolated from the Jamaican marine sponge platorits halichondrioides and contains a five-membered peroxide ring, with oxygen atoms linked to tertiary C4 and C6 centers. The methodology used for synthesizing highly substituted cyclic peroxides is novel and useful, and not only extends the field of Pd-catalyzed reactions, but also provides a convenient synthetic approach for the preparation of the 1,2-dioxolanes series. Plakortide E and plakortone B are bioactive, which means that the synthetic studies on them and their analogs are pivotal in drug discovery.
Contradictions: Neuroscience and Religion (Springer Praxis Books)
by José M. Musacchio“Contradictions” is a general interest book that exposes the incompatibility between popular religious beliefs and the scientific view of human nature. It begins with a survey of the evolution of religions and their continuing, often irrational, influences in modern society. Then, based on his long experience in neuroscience, the author takes issue with Decartes about the duality of body and soul. He presents case studies of patients with brain diseases and from these deduces that the soul, far from being separate and supernatural, is no more or less than our way of experiencing our brains ... and which correspondingly disintegrates when they do. Convincing clinical findings and powerful arguments about the universality of truth make this book a bold contribution to the debate about belief and religion in the modern world.
Bayesian Methods in Structural Bioinformatics (Statistics for Biology and Health)
by Thomas Hamelryck Kanti Mardia Jesper Ferkinghoff-BorgThis book is an edited volume, the goal of which is to provide an overview of the current state-of-the-art in statistical methods applied to problems in structural bioinformatics (and in particular protein structure prediction, simulation, experimental structure determination and analysis). It focuses on statistical methods that have a clear interpretation in the framework of statistical physics, rather than ad hoc, black box methods based on neural networks or support vector machines. In addition, the emphasis is on methods that deal with biomolecular structure in atomic detail. The book is highly accessible, and only assumes background knowledge on protein structure, with a minimum of mathematical knowledge. Therefore, the book includes introductory chapters that contain a solid introduction to key topics such as Bayesian statistics and concepts in machine learning and statistical physics.
The Software Dilemma: Balancing Creativity and Control on the Path to Sustainable Software (Management for Professionals)
by Roger Gutbrod Christian WieleThe complexity of software is continuously growing as a result of today’s interconnected business processes. Governance of architecture and technology strategy helps to ensure coherence of software and avoid excessive complexity. At the same time software development needs room for creativity and empowerment to provide solutions to business problems of increasing complexity. The book looks at this software dilemma from the perspectives of CIOs/CTOs, software architects, and auditors. Each of these groups has different interests which need to be considered, reconciled, and balanced. CIOs/CTOs are provided with the boundary conditions they have to establish assuring the achievement of strategic objectives. Architects and auditors find proven concepts for effectively assessing software projects and architectures, as well as for effectively communicating identified issues to responsible persons. The book is based on the author’s long experience in software engineering, governance, and auditing.