Cells and Robots : Modeling and Control of Large-Size Agent Populations
Cells and Robots is an outcome of the multidisciplinary research extending over Biology, Robotics and Hybrid Systems Theory. It is inspired by modeling reactive behavior of the immune system cell population, where each cell is considered as an independent agent. In our modeling approach, there is no difference if the cells are naturally or artificially created agents, such as robots. This appears even more evident when we introduce a case study concerning a large-size robotic population scenario. Under this scenario, we also formulate the optimal control of maximizing the probability of robotic presence in a given region and discuss the application of the Minimum Principle for partial differential equations to this problem. Simultaneous consideration of cell and robotic populations is of mutual benefit for Biology and Robotics, as well as for the general understanding of multi-agent system dynamics.The text of this monograph is based on the PhD thesis of the first author. The work was a runner-up for the fifth edition of the Georges Giralt Award for the best European PhD thesis in Robotics, annually awarded by the European Robotics Research Network (EURON).
Bioactive components of milk
Of all food products dairy foods have the most potential concerning functional foods. Therefore, there is a tremendous amount of interest in value-added milk products and the identification of components in food which have health benefits. Bioactive Components of Milk provides an overview of these derived components and their diverse activities including: the stimulation of beneficial microflora, alerting the immune system to the presence of potential pathogens and allergens, binding and eliminating toxins, etc. The book is divided into four parts. The first part focuses on bioactive milk lipid components, which very widely among mammalian species. The second part describes different aspects of biological active colostrums and milk proteins and their derivatives, with special concern on species specific effects. The third part reviews the production of recombinant human proteins in the milk of livestock animals - including ethical issues - and the aims of altering milk composition for the benefit of both the animals themselves and the consumers. The final part focuses on the influence of ruminants nutrition on the biological activity of milk.

