Mechanisms of Insulin Action
More than 18 million people in the United States have diabetes mellitus, and about 90% of these have the type 2 form of the disease. In addition, between 17 and 40 million people have insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, or the cluster of abnormalities referred to variably as the metabolic syndrome, the dysmetabolic syndrome, syndrome X, or the insulin resistance syndrome. In all of these disorders, a central component of the pathophysiology is insulin resistance, i.e., reduced responsiveness to insulin in tissues such as muscle, fat and liver. Insulin resistance is also closely linked to other common health problems, including obesity, polycystic ovarian disease, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. In this book, we will attempt to dissect the complexity of the molecular mechanisms of insulin action with a special emphasis on those features of the system that are subject to alteration in type 2 diabetes and other insulin resistant states. We explore insulin action at the most basic levels, through complex systems. The book will be appealing to basic and clinical scientists.
Intelligent engineering systems and computational cybernetics
A further important component of machine intelligence is a kind of “structural uniformity” giving room and possibility to model arbitrary particular details a priori not specified and unknown.This idea is similar to the ready-to-wear industry, which introduced products, which can be slightly modified later on in contrast to tailor-made creations aiming at maximum accuracy from the beginning. These subsequent corrections can be carried out by machines automatically. This “learning ability” is a key element of machine intelligence.The past decade confirmed that the view of typical components of the present soft computing as fuzzy logic, neural computing.
Information and self-organization : A macroscopic approach to complex systems
This book presents the concepts needed to deal with self-organizing complex systems from a unifying point of view that uses macroscopic data. The various meanings of the concept "information" are discussed and a general formulation of the maximum information (entropy) principle is used. With the aid of results from synergetics, adequate objective constraints for a large class of self-organizing systems are formulated and examples are given from physics, life and computer science. The relationship to chaos theory is examined and it is further shown that, based on possibly scarce and noisy data, unbiased guesses about processes of complex systems can be made and the underlying deterministic and random forces determined. This allows for probabilistic predictions of processes, with applications to numerous fields in science, technology, medicine and economics. The extensions of the third edition are essentially devoted to an introduction to the meaning of information in the quantum context. Indeed, quantum information science and technology is presently one of the most active fields of research at the interface of physics, technology and information sciences and has already established itself as one of the major future technologies for processing and communicating information on any scale.
Information — Consciousness — Reality : How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions of Existence
This book chronicles the rise of a new scientific paradigm offering novel insights into the age-old enigmas of existence. It is explores a radical paradigm shift uncovering the ontology of reality. It is found to be information-theoretic and participatory, yielding a computational and programmable universe.
Hybrid Estimation of Complex Systems
This monograph provides a tool-set for hybrid estimation that can successfully monitor the behavior of complex artifacts with a large number of possible operational and failure modes such as production plants, automotive or aeronautic systems, and autonomous robots.
Holonic Execution: A BDI Approach
Holonic manufacturing has been an active area of research for the past decade. However, this work has been predominately in the areas of planning and scheduling on the one hand and control on the other. In this book we propose these two areas can be integrated through adopting a focus on execution.
Hierarchy in Natural and Social Sciences
This book reviews ancient and modern representations and explanations of hierarchies, and compares their relevance in a variety of fields, such as language, societies, cities, and living species. It throws light on concepts and models such as scaling laws, fractals and self-organisation that are fundamental in the dynamics and morphology of complex systems.This book addresses a wide audience of biologists and social scientists, as well as managers and executives in a variety of institutions.
Geometrical dynamics of complex systems : A unified modelling approach to physics, control, biomechanics, neurodynamics and psycho-socio-economical dynamics
This volume presents a comprehensive introduction into rigorous geometrical dynamics of complex systems of various natures. By "complex systems", in this book are meant high-dimensional nonlinear systems, which can be (but not necessarily are) adaptive. This monograph proposes a unified geometrical approach to dynamics of complex systems of various kinds: engineering, physical, biophysical, psychophysical, sociophysical, econophysical, etc. The main objective of this book is to show that high-dimensional nonlinear systems in "real life" can be modeled and analyzed using rigorous mathematics, which enables their complete predictability and controllability, as if they were linear systems.
Genetic Programming Theory and Practice V
Genetic Programming Theory and Practice V was developed from the fifth workshop at the University of Michigan’s Center for the Study of Complex Systems to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information related to the rapidly advancing field of Genetic Programming (GP). Contributions from the foremost international researchers and practitioners in the GP arena examine the similarities and differences between theoretical and empirical results on real-world problems. The text explores the synergy between theory and practice, producing a comprehensive view of the state of the art in GP application.
Genetic Programming Theory and Practice IV
Genetic Programming Theory and Practice IV was developed from the fourth workshop at the University of Michigan’s Center for the Study of Complex Systems to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information related to the rapidly advancing field of Genetic Programming (GP). Contributions from the foremost international researchers and practitioners in the GP arena examine the similarities and differences between theoretical and empirical results on real-world problems.
Genetic Programming Theory and Practice III
Genetic Programming Theory and Practice III explores the emerging interaction between theory and practice in the cutting-edge, machine learning method of Genetic Programming (GP). This contributed volume was developed from the third workshop at the University of Michigan’s Center for the Study of Complex Systems to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information related to this rapidly advancing field. The text provides a cohesive view of the issues facing both practitioners and theoreticians and examines the synergy between GP theory and application.
Genetic programming : Theory and practice II
This volume explores the emerging interaction between theory and practice in the cutting-edge, machine learning method of Genetic Programming (GP). The contributions developed from a second workshop at the University of Michigan's Center for the Study of Complex Systems where leading international genetic programming theorists from major universities and active practitioners from leading industries and businesses met to examine how GP theory informs practice and how GP practice impacts GP theory. Chapters include such topics as financial trading rules, industrial statistical model building, population sizing, the roles of structure in problem solving by computer, stock picking, automated design of industrial-strength analog circuits, topological synthesis of robust systems, algorithmic chemistry, supply chain reordering policies, post docking filtering, an evolved antenna for a NASA mission and incident detection on highways.
Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics
Explains foundational concepts and principles surrounding the theory of vibrations and gives equations of motion for complex systems. The book presents classical vibration theory in a clear and systematic way, detailing original work on vehicle-bridge interactions and wind effects on bridges. Chapters give an overview of structural vibrations, including how to formulate equations of motion, vibration analysis of a single-degree-of-freedom system, a multi-degree-of-freedom system, and a continuous system, the approximate calculation of natural frequencies and modal shapes, and step-by-step integration methods. Each chapter includes extensive practical examples and problems.
Frontiers of Computational Science ; Proceedings of the International Symposium on Frontiers of Computational Science 2005
With the dramatic increase in speed and capacity of modern computers, computational approaches are becoming of crucial importance in various fields of science and engineering. Computational science is the interdisciplinary science, which promotes systematic development of methodologies and framework of computational approaches, basic studies of algorithms and soft-computation technologies and vast areas of applications. This volume is the proceedings of International Symposium on Frontiers of Computational Science 2005, containing papers from 7 plenary and keynote lecturers, 17 invited lecturers and 33 contributed papers. This book discusses the high-level use of computers in a wide variety of areas such as fluid mechanics, material and genome sciences.
From microphysics to macrophysics : Methods and applications of statistical physics; Vol.1
Volume 1 discusses in detail the probabilistic description of quantum or classical systems, the Boltzmann-Gibbs distributions, the conservation laws, and the interpretation of entropy as missing information. Thermodynamics and electromagnetism in matter are dealt with, as well as applications to gases, both dilute and condensed, and to phase transitions.
From microphysics to macrophysics : Methods and applications of statistical physics ; Vol.2
Volume 2 applies statistical methods to systems governed by quantum effects, in particular to solid state physics, explaining properties due to the crystal structure or to the lattice excitations or to the electrons. Liquid helium is discussed and radiative equilibrium and transport are studied. The last chapters are devoted to non-equilibrium processes and to kinetic equations, with many applications included.
Exploring Resilience : A Scientific Journey from Practice to Theory
Resilience has become an important topic on the safety research agenda and in organizational practice. Most empirical work on resilience has been descriptive, identifying characteristics of work and organizing activity which allow organizations to cope with unexpected situations. Fewer studies have developed testable models and theories that can be used to support interventions aiming to increase resilience and improve safety. In addition, the absent integration of different system levels from individuals, teams, organizations, regulatory bodies, and policy level in theory and practice imply that mechanisms through which resilience is linked across complex systems are not yet well understood. Scientific efforts have been made to develop constructs and models that present relationships; however, these cannot be characterized as sufficient for theory building. There is a need for taking a broader look at resilience practices as a foundation for developing a theoretical framework that can help improve safety in complex systems.
Evolution from Cellular to Social Scales
Evolution is a critical challenge for many areas of science, technology and development of society. The book reviews general evolutionary facts such as origin of life and evolution of the genome and clues to evolution through simple systems. Emerging areas of science such as "systems biology" and "bio-complexity" are founded on the idea that phenomena need to be understood in the context of highly interactive processes operating at different levels and on different scales. This is where physics meets complexity in nature, and where we must begin to learn about complexity if we are to understand it. Similarly, there is an increasingly urgent need to understand and predict the evolutionary behavior of highly interacting man-made systems, in areas such as communications and transport, which permeate the modern world. The same applies to the evolution of human networks such as social, political and financial systems, where technology has tended to vastly increase both the complexity and speed of interaction, which is sometimes effectively instantaneous.
Essential Issues in SOC Design : Designing Complex Systems-on-Chip
SOC design is fast becoming the key area of focus that engineers and researchers from the Electronic Design Automation field are focusing on in their quest to further develop Integrated Circuit technology. The more systems and even networks that we can integrate on one piece of silicon, the faster, cheaper, more powerful and efficient the technology will become. Essential Issues in SOC Design contains valuable academic and industrial examples for those involved with the design of complex SOCs, all contributors are selected from a region of the world that is generally known to lead the "SOC-Revolution", namely Asia.
Equilibrium statistical physics : Phases of matter and phase transitions
This is a textbook which gradually introduces the student to the statistical mechanical study of the different phases of matter and to the phase transitions between them. Throughout, only simple models of both ordinary and soft matter are used but these are studied in full detail. The subject is developed in a pedagogical manner, starting from the basics, going from the simple ideal systems to the interacting systems, and ending with the more modern topics. The latter include the renormalisation group approach to critical phenomena, the density functional theory of interfaces, the topological defects of nematic liquid crystals and the kinematic aspects of the phase transformation process. This textbook provides the student with a complete overview, intentionally at an introductory level, of the theory of phase transitions. References include suggestions for more detailed treatments and four appendices supply overviews of the mathematical tools employed in the text.



















