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Algal Toxins : Nature, Occurrence, Effect and Detection
This volume contains the lectures and seminars given at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on “Sensor Systems for Biological Threads: The Algal Toxins Case”, held in Pisa, Italy in October, 2007. Algae can form heavy growths in ponds, lakes, reservoirs and sl- moving rivers throughout the world; algae can house toxins which are - ually released into water when the cells rupture or die. Hundreds of toxins have been identified so far. Detection methods, including rapid screening, have been developed to help us learning more about them, especially to find out which toxins are a real threat for people and what conditions encourage their production and accumulation. Early detection of algal toxins is an - portant aspect for public safety and natural environment, and significant efforts are underway to develop effective and reliable tools that can be used for this purpose.
Algal Chemical Ecology
This is the first ever book devoted entirely to the chemical ecology of algae. Algae from both marine and freshwater habitats are covered, as are macroalgae (seaweeds) and microalgae (including phytoplankton). While its main emphasis is on the ecological rather than chemical aspects of the field, the book also includes a unique introductory chapter intended as a primer on algal natural products chemistry for ecologists. It elucidates the roles of chemical defenses in various regions and habitats, of DMSP, oxidative burst responses, and herbivore offense. Topics such as algal sensory chemical ecology and defenses against ultraviolet radiation are also treated, and an introduction to the chemical ecology of phytoplankton is provided.
AI in disease detection : Advancements and applications
Discusses the integration of artificial intelligence to revolutionize disease detection approaches, with case studies of AI in disease detection as well as insight into the opportunities and challenges of AI in healthcare as a whole. The book explores a wide range of individual AI components such as computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning as well as the development and implementation of AI systems for efficient practices in data collection, model training, and clinical validation.
Advances in multiple Sclerosis and Experimental Demyelinating Diseases
Challenging Charcot’s hypothesis that inflammatory response is the primary contributor to demyelination, Dr. Rodriguez and colleagues take a fresh, bold look at the causes and possible treatments of MS.Assuming oligodendrocyte injury as a prerequisite to MS, the authors explore viruses, toxins and genetic defects as possible culprits. They present novel methods to interrupt and reverse demyelination. This book examines the correlation between axonal loss and clinical deficits, including the implied role of the CD8+ T cell and perforin. It assesses proteases, specifically, kallikrein 6, which are strongly associated with active demyelination. By directing natural autoantibodies against oligodendrocytes that demonstrate remyelination in animal models, the authors envision clinical trials for remyelination enhancement.
Advances in Integrated Soil Fertility Research in sub-Saharan Africa : Challenges and Opportunities
Food insecurity is a central concern and a fundamental challenge for human welfare and economic growth in Africa. Low agricultural production, results in low incomes, poor nutrition, vulnerability to risks and lack of empowerment. Land degradation and soil fertility depletion are considered the major threats to food security and natural resource conservation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Investments in technology, policy and institutional reforms are needed to increase agricultural productivity to ensure food security and sustained national economies. Past research has generated numerous soil fertility management technologies which if adopted could propel the African continent out of the poverty trap. However, these technologies have had little, if any, impact due to low adoption by the smallholder farmers.
Advances in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease : Insights, Progress, and Perspectives
Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease (ADPD), held March 9-13, 2005 in Sorrento, Italy.The subject matter of the ADPD conferences is unique in that it deals not only with issues related individually to Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, but also with the integration of these and other related diseases. The most up-to-date techniques and research findings are illustrated in this volume, covering topics such as immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry and the history, epidemiology, clinical phenomenology, diagnosis, imaging, treatment ,and future perspectives of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases.
Advanced chemical biology : chemical dissection and reprogramming of biological systems
Organized around the central dogma of life, progressing from genes to proteins and higher-order cellular structures, including core application areas such as imaging, chemical genetics, activity-based protein profiling, and natural product discovery and biosynthesis. Advanced topics and applications in, e. g., microbiology, developmental biology, and neurobiology, are covered in separate sections.
About Life : Concepts in Modern Biology
This book uses modern biological knowledge to tackle the question: "What distinguishes living organisms from the non-living world?" In the first few chapters, the authors draw on recent advances in cell and molecular biology to develop an account of the "living state" that applies to all organisms, but only to organisms. Subsequent chapters use this account to explore questions about evolution, the origin of life and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Towards the end of the book the authors consider human evolution, intelligence and the extent to which our species can be regarded as biologically unique. About Life is written as far as possible in non-technical language; all scientific terms are explained straightforwardly when they are introduced. It is aimed at the general, non-specialist reader, but the novel approach that it takes to general issues in biology will also interest students of the life sciences.
A History of Limb Amputation
This book traces humanity’s long experience of natural amputations due to congenital absence, disease, frostbite, toxins, domestic and wild animal trauma, and for non-medical reasons related to punitive, ritual, and legal actions, ultimately leading to the development of elective surgical amputation. While the evolution of surgical techniques forms a major chapter in the book, many ancillary problems are addressed including the control of hemorrhage and infection, the approach to pain relief, the development of suitable instruments and equipment, and the invention of prostheses, all suitably illuminated with case histories and relevant illustrations. In addition, alternative procedures designed to avoid amputation, increasingly important in the last two centuries, are debated, and factors associated with self-amputation in extremis, not rare according to press reports, are also examined. A separate chapter considers the philosophy and interpretations of society, patients, and surgeons faced with amputation, particularly before anesthesia.
Mathematical Linguistics
Mathematical Linguistics introduces the mathematical foundations of linguistics to computer scientists, engineers, and mathematicians interested in natural language processing. The book presents linguistics as a cumulative body of knowledge from the ground up, with no prior knowledge of linguistics being assumed, covering more than the average two-semester introductory course in linguistics.This comprehensive, reader-friendly volume offers readers a high-level orientation, discussing the foundations of the field and presenting both the classical work and the most recent results. It covers an extremely rich array of topics including not only syntax and semantics but also phonology and morphology, probabilistic approaches, complexity, learnability, and the analysis of speech and handwriting.
Markov Models for Pattern Recognition : From Theory to Applications
Describes the underlying theoretical concepts - covering Hidden Markov models and Markov chain models - and presents the techniques and algorithmic solutions essential to creating real world applications. The actual use of Markov models in their three main application areas - namely speech recognition, handwriting recognition, and biological sequence analysis - is presented with examples of successful systems.
Machine Learning Refined : Foundations, Algorithms, and Applications
Provides students with the fundamental knowledge and practical tools needed to conduct research and build data-driven products. The authors prioritize geometric intuition and algorithmic thinking, and include detail on all the essential mathematical prerequisites, to offer a fresh and accessible way to learn. Practical applications are emphasized, with examples from disciplines including computer vision, natural language processing, economics, neuroscience, recommender systems, physics, and biology.
Logical and Relational Learning
This textbook covers logical and relational learning in depth, and hence provides an introduction to inductive logic programming (ILP), multirelational data mining (MRDM) and (statistical) relational learning (SRL). These subfields of data mining and machine learning are concerned with the analysis of complex and structured data sets that arise in numerous applications, such as bio- and chemoinformatics, network analysis, Web mining, natural language processing, within the rich representations offered by relational databases and computational logic.
Literature-based Discovery
When Don Swanson hypothesized a connection between Raynaud’s phenomenon and dietary fish oil, the field of literature-based discovery (LBD) was born. During the subsequent two decades a steady stream of researchers have published articles about LBD and the field has made steady progress in laying foundations and creating an identity. LBD is an inherently multi-disciplinary enterprise where collaborations between the information and biomedical sciences are readily encountered. It is the hope and intention that this volume will plant a flag in the ground and inspire new researchers to the LBD challenge.
Linguistics for the age of AI
One of the original goals of artificial intelligence research was to endow intelligent agents with human-level natural language capabilities. Recent AI research, however, has focused on applying statistical and machine learning approaches to big data rather than attempting to model what people do and how they do it. In this book, Marjorie McShane and Sergei Nirenburg return to the original goal of recreating human-level intelligence in a machine. They present a human-inspired, linguistically sophisticated model of language understanding for intelligent agent systems that emphasizes meaning—the deep, context-sensitive meaning that a person derives from spoken or written language.
Learning from data streams : Processing techniques in sensor networks
The book provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of stream data processing, including famous prototype implementations like the Nile system and the TinyOS operating system. The set of chapters covers the state-of-art in data stream mining approaches using clustering, predictive learning, and tensor analysis techniques, and applying them to applications in security, the natural sciences, and education.
Knowledge Representation and the Semantics of Natural Language
This book presents a method for the semantic representation of natural l- guage expressions (texts, sentences, phrases, etc. ) which can be used as a u- versal knowledge representation paradigm in the human sciences, like lingu- tics, cognitive psychology, or philosophy of language, as well as in com- tational linguistics and in arti?cial intelligence. It is also an attempt to close the gap between these disciplines, which to a large extent are still working separately.
Iterated Function Systems for Real-Time Image Synthesis
Natural phenomena can be visually described with fractal-geometry methods, where iterative procedures rather than equations are used to model objects. With the development of better modelling algorithms, the efficiency of rendering, the realism of computer-generated scenes and the interactivity of visual stimuli are reaching astonishing levels. Iterated Function Systems for Real-Time Image Synthesis gives an explanation of iterated function systems and how to use them in generation of complex objects.
Citation Analysis in Research Evaluation
This book is written for members of the scholarly research community, and for persons involved in research evaluation and research policy. More specifically, it is directed towards the following four main groups of readers: – All scientists and scholars who have been or will be subjected to a quantitative assessment of research performance using citation analysis. – Research policy makers and managers who wish to become conversant with the basic features of citation analysis, and about its potentialities and limitations. – Members of peer review committees and other evaluators, who consider the use of citation analysis as a tool in their assessments. – Practitioners and students in the field of quantitative science and technology studies, informetrics, and library and information science. Citation analysis involves the construction and application of a series of indicators of the ‘impact’, ‘influence’ or ‘quality’ of scholarly work, derived from citation data, i.e. data on references cited in footnotes or bibliographies of scholarly research publications. Such indicators are applied both in the study of scholarly communication and in the assessment of research performance. The term ‘scholarly’ comprises all domains of science and scholarship, including not only those fields that are normally denoted as science – the natural and life sciences, mathematical and technical sciences – but also social sciences and humanities.
Charting a new course : Natural language processing and information retrieval : Essays in Honour of Karen Spärck Jones
This book celebrates the life and work of Karen Spärck Jones in her seventieth year. she is one of the major figures of 20th century and early 21st Century computing and information processing. It book consists of fifteen new and original chapters written by leading international authorities reviewing the state of the art and her influence in the areas in which Karen Spärck Jones has been active. Although she has a publication record which goes back over forty years, it is clear even the very early work reviewed in the book can be read with profit by those working on recent developments in information processing like bioinformatics and the semantic web.
