الصفحة 2
الصفحة 2
Focus on bacterial biofilms
Bacterial biofilms are colonies of bacterial cells embedded in their self-produced matrix composed of polysaccharides, DNA, and proteins. They protect bacterial cells against antibiotics, antibacterial agents, soaps and detergents, and shear stress. Some of the most common biofilm-associated infections in humans include urinary tract infections, infection of wounds and surgical sites, diabetic foot ulcers, dental caries (tooth decay) and gingivitis (gum inflammation), ventilator-associated infections, sinusitis, microbial keratitis, secondary infection related to Covid-19 and other viral infections, and so on. Bacterial resistance to common antibiotics (e.g., penicillin, gentamycin, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, etc.) is driving us to a catastrophic failure of our health systems. Strategies to develop novel antibacterial agents and technology must be prioritized to combat and eradicate biofilms and their associated challenges. This book provides a comprehensive overview of biofilms with chapters on bacterial virulence factors, quorum sensing in bacteria, antimicrobial resistance in bacteria, strategies to develop new antibacterial agents, and much more.
Flow Shop Lot Streaming Problems
Lot streaming is a process of breaking a batch of jobs into smaller lots, and then processing these in an overlapping fashion on the machines. This important concept can significantly improve the overall performance of a production process, and thereby make the operation of a manufacturing system lean. Flow Shop Lot Streaming introduces the reader to this significant production process, presents various analysis techniques, and allows the reader to quickly become conversant with the state-of-the-art techniques necessary to embark on new research directions. This text begins with an introduction to and a brief historical perspective of the lot streaming problem, and continues with generic mathematical models for this problem. Flow Shop Lot Streaming presents systematic analysis, algorithms, key ideas and illustrative examples using 2-machine, 3-machine, and the general m-machine flow shop lot streaming problems.
Enhanced Living Environments : Algorithms, Architectures, Platforms, and Systems
Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is an area of research based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), medical research, and sociological research. AAL is based on the notion that technology and science can provide improvements in the quality of life for people in their homes, and that it can reduce the financial burden on the budgets of the healthcare providers. The concept of Enhanced Living Environments (ELE) refers to the AAL area that is more related with ICT. Effective ELE solutions require appropriate ICT algorithms, architectures, platforms, and systems, having in view the advance of science in this area and the development of new and innovative solutions. The aim of this book is to become a state-of-the-art reference, discussing progress made, as well as prompting future directions on theories, practices, standards, and strategies related to the ELE area.
Dynamics of soils and their engineering applications
Offers systematic dynamic analysis of soils and their engineering applications, including machine foundations, and aims to develop a clear understanding of the subject. It comprises sixteen chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the various problems in soil dynamics. In Chapter 2, concepts of theory of vibrations are discussed along with their applications in designing Vibration Absorbers and Pickups. Wave propagation in elastic medium including wave refraction in layered medium is covered in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 deals with the procedure of determining dynamic properties of soils using various laboratory and field tests. Dynamic earth pressures in retaining walls and dynamic bearing capacity of footings are dealt with in Chapters 5 and 6 respectively
Drug interactions in infectious diseases : Antimicrobial drug interactions
Delivers a quick clinical resource that distills relevant drug interactions by antimicrobial drug class. The book provides informative tables on specific drug-drug interactions that include the degree and severity of the expected interaction. A mechanistic basis for drug-drug interactions is also provided to link observed interactions to pharmacologic characteristics of key drug classes. This complete resource is organized by major antibacterial, antimycobacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antimalarial, and antiprotozoal class. In line with current innovations in antimicrobial drug development, a distinct chapter on the pharmacologic management of drug interactions in hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related infections is included. Two new chapters are dedicated to the management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) drug-drug interactions given the breadth of antiretroviral class-specific effects. This comprehensive review of known drug interactions and strategies to manage them is an invaluable resource to all health care practitioners.
Dissecting Discrimination : Identifying Its Various Faces and Their Sources
This book examines the phenomenon of discrimination using a descriptive approach. Discrimination is omnipresent, whether it is people who discriminate against other people or, more recently, also machines that discriminate against people. The first part of the analysis employs decision theory on discrimination, leading to two fundamental subtypes: taste-based discrimination and statistical discrimination. The second part links taste-based discrimination to social identity theory, demonstrates that not all taste-based discrimination is ultimately statistical discrimination, and reveals the evolutionary origins of our tastes.
COTS-Based software systems ; 4th International Conference, ICCBSS 2005, Bilbao, Spain, February 7-11, 2005, Proceedings
The theme “Build and Conquer” : software development is an engineering discipline, and not an artistic expression. Once we are ready to “build” our software systems using pieces previously builtin (similar to any other technology manufacturer), we will be able to “conquer” the software engineering process. If we take a look at other engineering disciplines such as car manufacturing, house appliances or aeronautics, we see that the final products are built through the integration of multiprovider commercial components. These components are successfully integrated and constitute an important part of the final product. Most software-related organizations still build software from scratch, omitting thousands of ready-built commercially available software components that could be used very effectively during the development phase. This year ICCBSS moves to Europe for the first time since the first conference took place in Orlando, FL, USA in 2002. The conference scope has enlarged over the years to include the Open Source community and Web Services technologies. so many of the characteristics of COTS are also applied to Open Source and Web Services.
Conceptual Ecology and Invasion Biology : Reciprocal Approaches to Nature
In this edited volume, global experts in ecology and evolutionary biology explore how theories in ecology elucidate the invasion processes while also examining how specific invasions informs ecological theory. This reciprocal benefit is highlighted in a number of scales of organization: population, community and biogeographic, while employing example invaders in all major groups of organisms and from a number of regions around the globe. The chapters in this volume utilize many of the cutting edge observational, experimental, analytical and computational methods used in modern ecology. Through merging conceptual ecology and invasion biology we can obtain a better understanding of the invasion process while also developing a better understanding of how ecological systems function.
Cognitive Development in Chimpanzees
From an evolutionary perspective, understanding chimpanzees offers a way of understanding the basis of human nature. This book on cognitive development in chimpanzees is the first of its kind to focus on infants reared by their own mothers within a natural setting, illustrating various aspects of chimpanzee cognition and the developmental changes that accompany them. The subjects of this book are chimpanzees of three generations inhabiting an enriched environment as well as a wild community in West Africa; and phenomena such as face recognition, concept formation, object manipulation, tool manufacture and use, decision making, learning, communication, self-awareness, intentionality, understanding others’ minds, cooperation, deception, altruism, and reciprocity observed within these groups are reported herein. Unique approaches both in the field and in the laboratory go hand in hand to illustrate the cognitive world of our closest living evolutionary relatives.
Managing the Complexity of Critical Infrastructures : A Modelling and Simulation Approach
This book summarizes work being pursued in the context of the CIPRNet (Critical Infrastructure Preparedness and Resilience Research Network) research project, co-funded by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The project is intended to provide concrete and on-going support to the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) research communities, enhancing their preparedness for CI-related emergencies, while also providing expertise and technologies for other stakeholders to promote their understanding and mitigation of the consequences of CI disruptions, leading to enhanced resilience.
Managing Care : A Shared Responsibility
The concept of genuine responsibility, recognizing the complexity of health care and the need for stakeholder-specific interpretations of responsibility, proposes as the underlying premise of responsibility (at least in regard to health care) the social agreement that distributive choices should be made on the basis of the premise of deliberate reciprocity. When all parties share the same foundation on which the notion of responsibility is built the resulting trust and cooperation among stakeholders enables them to find morally appropriate solutions in reforming health care.This book that is at the same time provocative and important. It proposes to change the way we think about deploying healthcare resources. It will accomplish its goal for readers who are willing to be challenged at a basic level. Intellectually sound and a very good read too.
Machine Learning for Multimodal Interaction ; Vol.3361 : 1st International Workshop, MLMI 2004, Martigny, Switzerland, June 21-23, 2004, Revised Selected Papers
his book contains a selection of refereed papers presented at the 1st Wo- shop on Machine Learning for Multimodal Interaction (MLMI 2004), held at the “Centre du Parc,” Martigny, Switzerland, during June 21–23, 2004. The workshop was organized and sponsored jointly by three European projects, – AMI, Augmented Multiparty Interaction, http://www.amiproject.org – PASCAL, Pattern Analysis, Statistical Modeling and Computational Learning, http://www.pascal-network.org – M4, Multi-modal Meeting Manager, http://www.m4project.org as well as the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR): – IM2: Interactive Multimodal Information Management, http://www.im2.ch MLMI 2004 was thus sponsored by the European Commission and the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Law and the Semantic Web : Legal Ontologies, Methodologies, Legal Information Retrieval, and Applications
As part of this objective, ICT (information and communication technologies) services should become available for every citizen, and for all schools, homes and businesses. The book you have in front of you is about Semantic Web technology and law. Law is something omnipresent; all citizens — at some points in their lives — have to deal with it. In addition, law involves a large group of professionals, and is a mul- billion business world wide. Information technology is important because it that can improve citizens’ interaction with law, as well as improve legal professionals’ work environment. Legal professionals dedicate a significant amount of their time to finding, reading, analyzing and synthesizing information in order to take decisions, and prepare advice and trials, among other tasks. As part of the “Semantic-Based Knowledge and Content Systems” Strategic Objective, the European Commission is funding projects to construct technology to make the Semantic Web vision come true. 1 The articles in this book are related to two current foci of the Strategic Objective : • Knowledge acquisition and modelling, capturing knowledge from raw information and multimedia content in webs and other distributed repositories to turn poorly structured information into machi- processable knowledge.
Kidney complications & transplantation
Kidney diseases are worldwide public health problems with a high cost and increasing incidence. By revealing the genetic and cellular mechanism behind mammalian kidney development, better diagnostic methods and novel therapies can be expected to be developed. The mammalian kidney is a typical organ that develops on the basis of sequential and reciprocal cell and tissue interactions. Pyelonephritis, Glomerulonephritis, Kidney stones, Nephrotic syndrome, and Acute or chronic kidney failure are the most complications in the kidney kingdom, so that living kidney transplantation has become the preferred treatment for those patients who can’t have the powerful capacity of the kidney function, and here it has a very rejection risk in the first month and we can controlled in this situation with long term immunosuppressant therapy involved in the post-transplantation protocol.
Cinematic Style: Fashion, Architecture and Interior Design on Film
This book is the first to consider the significant interplay between fashion and interiors and their combined contribution to cinematic style from early film to the digital age. With examples from Frank Lloyd Wright inspired architecture in Hitchcock's North by Northwest, to Coco Chanel's costumes for Gloria Swanson and a Great Gatsby film-set turned Ralph Lauren flagship, Cinematic Style describes the reciprocal relationship between these cultural forms. Exposing the bleeding lines between fashion and interiors in cinematic and real-life contexts, Berry presents case studies of cinematic styles adopted as brand identities and design movements promoted through filmic fantasy.
Chance : The life of games and the game of life
With its many easy-to-follow mathematical examples, this book takes the reader on an almost chronological trip through the fascinating and amazing laws of chance, omnipresent in the natural world and in our daily lives. Along the route many fascinating topics are discussed, such as: challenging probability paradoxes; "paranormal" coincidences; game odds; causes and effects; interpretation of opinion polls; winning chances as a game proceeds; the nature of randomness; entropy and randomness; randomness in life; algorithmic complexity and the undecidability of randomness; possibilities and limitations of learning the laws of a Universe immersed in chance events. This charming book will inform and entertain the scientist and non-scientist alike.
Cell and Molecular Biology of Plastids
The present book provides a comprehensive overview of our current knowledge on plastid biogenesis, plastid-nuclear communication, the regulation of plastid gene expression at all levels, and also assesses the state of the art in key technologies, such as proteomics and chloroplast transformation. Written by recognized experts in the field, it covers plastid differentiation and division, genome structure and function, plastid inheritance, recombination, DNA replication and repair, transcription, RNA processing and translation as well as crucial posttranslational processes in plastid biogenesis and function, including protein processing, the assembly of multiprotein complexes, protein stability and degradation, protein import and sorting.
Autonomic principles of IP operations and management ; 6th IEEE International Workshop on IP Operations and Management, IPOM 2006, Dublin, Ireland, October 23-25, 2006, Proceedings
th This volume presents the proceedings of the 6 IEEE International Workshop on IP Operations and Management (IPOM 2006), which was held as part of Manweek 2006 rd th in Dublin, Ireland from October 23 to 25 , 2006. In line with its reputation as one ofthe pre-eminent venues for the discussion and debate of advances of management of IP networks and services, the 2006 iteration of IPOM brought together an international audience of researchers and practitioners from both industry and academia. The overall theme of Manweek 2006 was “Autonomic Component and System Management”,with IPOM taking this to be the application of autonomic principles to the IP operations, administration, maintenance and provisioning.
Applied Parallel Computing ; State of the Art in Scientific Computing ; 8th International Workshop, PARA 2006, Umea, Sweden, June 18-21, 2006, Revised Selected Papers
It covers partial differential equations, parallel scientific computing algorithms, linear algebra, simulation environments, algorithms and applications for blue gene/L, scientific computing tools and applications, parallel search algorithms, peer-to-peer computing, mobility and security, algorithms for single-chip multiprocessors.
Anxiety in health behaviors and physical illness
While the links between physical illness and depression have been well-documented and analyzed, little has been made of the data relating physical illness to anxiety—until now. Anxiety in Health Behavior and Physical Illness explores complex relationships between medical and anxiety pathology on the theoretical, research, and practical fronts. Over forty experts examine reciprocal roles of anxiety and medical illness as causal or exacerbating factors in each other’s onset and development, describe forms of anxiety typical to major disease entities, discuss common health behaviors as they impact anxiety, recast anxiety disorders as chronic illness, and identify patients for whom new forms of treatment may be warranted.
