Page 1
Page 1
Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels
Voltage-gated calcium channels are essential mediators of a range of physiological functions, including the communication between nerve Vcells, the regulation of heart beat, muscle contraction, and secretion of hormones such as insulin. Consequently, these channels are critical phar macological targets in the treatment of a variety of disorders, such as epi lepsy, hypertension, and pain. Voltage-gated calcium channels have there fore been subject to intense study by numerous investigators over the past few decades, and an immense body of work has accumulated. In this book, we provide the first comprehensive overview of our current state of knowl edge concerning this exciting field of research. Leading off with a general review of calcium signaling and techniques to measure calcium channel ac tivity, the book delves into a provocative overview of the history of the cal cium channel field. A number of chapters are dedicated towards various aspects of calcium channel structure and function, including channel gat ing, permeation, modulation and interactions with members of the exo- totic machinery—contributed by both established leaders and rising stars in the field.
Value Creation in Leveraged Buyouts : Analysis of Factors Driving Private Equity Investment Performance
Over the last years, buyout activity has risen dramatically - especially in Europe - sparking intense public discussion about financial investors' role and the value they can add to companies and the overall economy.Using quantitative analysis, he shows that various exogenous factors with respect to timing, industry, public market as well as deal specific factors can statistically be related to a buyout deal's performance. It also provides evidence of a "GP effect" in leveraged buyouts, i.e. that certain characteristics of a Private Equity firm and its investment professionals as well as a firm's buyout strategy approach and certain buyout target characteristics are important success factors.
Time and Modality
Time and Modality is a unique work of reference; not only does it unite studies which explore the syntax and semantics of tense or modality but it is the first book of its kind to embrace the interaction of tense and modality within a coherent generative model. Various topics are covered in this volume: among them are the counterfactual uses of conditionals, modals, and past tense; the irrealis use of perfective aspect; a special English subjunctive; the interaction of tense assignment and the definition of an event; the modal verb as a causative verb; the interaction of modality, tense, and aktionsart; the contrast between deontic and epistemic modal with respect to tense interpretation; the syntax of epistemic modals; the long-awaited definition of generic and habitual sentence; and the introduction of intensionality in copular clauses.
Throughput Optimization in Robotic Cells
Intense global competition in manufacturing has compelled manufacturers to incorporate repetitive processing and automation for improving productivity. Modern manufacturing systems use robotic cells — a particular type of computer-controlled system in cellular manufacturing. THROUGHPUT OPTIMIZATION IN ROBOTIC CELLS provides practitioners, researchers, and students with up-to-date algorithmic results on sequencing of robot moves and scheduling of parts in robotic cells. It brings together the structural results developed over the last 25 years for the various realistic models of robotic cells. After describing industrial applications of robotic cells and presenting fundamental results about cyclic production, several advanced features, such as dual-grippers, parallel machines, multi-part-type production, and multiple robots, are treated. Important open problems in the area are also identified.
The Theory of Coherent Radiation by Intense Electron Beams
This books delves into the foundations of a device and geometry independent theoretical treatment of a large collection of interacting and radiating electron bunches. Part I deals with the basics of the radiation emission of a single charged particle, paying particular attention to the effect of radiation reaction and dwelling on the corresponding well-known paradoxes. Part II investigates the collective behaviour of a high-density electron bunch where both discrete and continous beam modelling is explored. Part III treats the application to modern systems while still keeping the treatment as general as possible. This book will be mandatory reading for anyone working on the foundations of modern devices such as free electron lasers, plasma accelerators, synchroton sources and other modern sources of bright, coherent radiation with high spectral density.
The Myc/Max/Mad Transcription Factor Network
Intense study of the enigmatic myc proto-oncogene over the last 20 years has broadened our view of its functions and led to insights into transcriptional regulation as well as cancer etiology, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and organismal development. How can one gene be involved in so many aspects of cellular behavior? Of particular interest is the fact that the Myc protein functions as part of a network (comprising Myc, Max, and Mad proteins) whose specific interactions direct transcriptional activation or repression of a large number of target genes. The chapters in this volume examine both molecular and biological aspects of the Myc/Max/Mad network. Included are contributions concerning the regulation of its expression, the mechanisms underlying its diverse transcriptional activities, the structural bases for its critical interactions, and the nature of its target genes. Other chapters explore the evolution of the network, its role in development and genomic instability, and the evidence for a parallel transcriptional network. Overall, this volume provides a broad and current overview of research on a crucial group of transcription factors.
The Hands-On Guide for Science Communicators : A Step-by-Step Approach to Public Outreach
This Guide touches upon all aspects of science communication, revealing a tightly interwoven fabric of issues: product types, target groups, written communication, visual communication, validation processes, practices of efficient workflow, distribution, promotion, advertising and much more.
The European Information Society : Taking Geoinformation Science One Step Further
The Association of Geographic Information Laboratories for Europe (AGILE) was established in early 1998 to promote academic teaching and research on GIS at the European level. AGILE seeks to ensure that the views of the geographic information teaching and research community are fully represented in the discussions that take place on future European - search agendas and it also provides a permanent scientific forum where geographic information researchers can meet and exchange ideas and - periences at the European level. In 2007 AGILE provided - for the first time since its existence - a book constituting a collection of scientific papers that were submitted as fu- papers to the annual AGILE conference and went through a competitive and thorough review process. Published in the Springer Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography this first edition was well received within AGILE and within the European Geoinformation Science com- nity as a whole. Thus, the decision was easily made to establish a Springer th Volume for the 11 AGILE conference held 2008 in Girona, Spain, and led to what you now hold in your hands.
The Becher Wetlands - A Ramsar Site : Evolution of Wetland Habitats and Vegetation Associations on a Holocene Coastal Plain, South-Western Australia
This book is a landmark study of the Holocene evolution and functioning of a suite of seasonal wetland basins in the temperate coastal zone of Western Australia. In 2001, a series of discrete small scale wetlands on the Becher cuspate foreland in Western Australia, were nominated as a Ramsar site because of their scientific values. These values pertained to their setting, their method of formation and deepening, their history of infilling, their complex hydrological mechanisms, and their dynamic hydrochemical and vegetation responses. The wetlands were the subjects of intense curiosity, observation, measurement, and experiment, for over 10 years. The results of this interest and passion are presented here in order to demonstrate the considerable importance of what lay beneath the ordinary surface.Amongst the new ideas presented in the book are the importance of stratigraphy in understanding wetland development, the significance of physiographic setting in determining wetland development, and the unravelling of several different evolutionary pathways in wetlands of the same basic origin.
Tensegrity Structures Design Methods
Begins with two-dimensional tensegrity structures, particularly tensegrity nets, tensegrity chains, tensegrity rings and tensegrity arches. These are then developed to original configurations of spatial tensegrity structures such as tensegrity slabs, primitive spatial tensegrity arches, and primitive tensegrity domes, as well as more elaborate spatial tensegrity structures such as tensegrity cylindrical shells, slim tensegrity domes, tensegrity vaults, and tensegrity caps.
Superconductivity ; Vol.1 : Conventional and Unconventional Superconductors ; Vol.2 : Novel Superconductors
Conceived as the definitive reference in a classic and important field of modern physics, this extensive and comprehensive handbook systematically reviews the basic physics, theory and recent advances in the field of superconductivity. Leading researchers, including Nobel laureates, describe the state-of-the-art in conventional and unconventional superconductors at a particularly opportune time, as new experimental techniques and field-theoretical methods have emerged. In addition to full-coverage of novel materials and underlying mechanisms, the handbook reflects continued intense research into electron-phone based superconductivity. Considerable attention is devoted to high-Tc superconductivity, novel superconductivity, including triplet pairing in the ruthenates, novel superconductors, such as heavy-Fermion metals and organic materials, and also granular superconductors.
Sunlight, Vitamin D and Skin Cancer
Represents the most important risk factor for the development of nonmelanoma skin cancer. Additionally, assessment of sun exposure parameters has consistently shown an association between the development of malignant melanoma and short term, intense UV exposure, particularly burning in childhood. As a consequence, protection of the skin from UV exposure is an integral part of skin cancer prevention programs. However, more chronic, less intense UV exposure has not been found to be a risk factor for melanoma and in fact has been found in some studies to be protective. Moreover, 90% of all requisite vitamin D is formed within the skin through the action of the sun—a serious problem—for a connection between vitamin D deficiency and various types of cancer (e. g. , colon, prostate and breast cancers) has been demonstrated in a large number of studies. Hence, the - sociation between vitamin D deficiency and various internal malignancies has now opened a debate among dermatologists and other clinicians how to balance between positive and negative effects of solar and artificial UV exposure. The goal of this volume is to provide a comprehensive, highly readable overview of our present knowledge of positive and negative effects of UV exposure, with a focus on vitamin D and skin cancer.
Strong Field Laser Physics
Since the invention of the laser in the 1960s, people have strived to reach higher intensities and shorter pulse durations. High intensities and ultrashort pulse durations are intimately related. Recent developments have shown that high intensity lasers also open the way to realize pulses with the shortest durations to date, giving birth to the field of attosecond science (1 asec = 10-18s). This book is about high-intensity lasers and their applications. The goal is to give an up to date introduction to the technology behind these laser systems and to the broad range of intense laser applications. These applications include AMO (atomic molecular and optical) physics, x-ray science, attosecond science, plasma physics and particle acceleration, condensed matter science and laser micromachining, and finally even high-energy physics.
Sprites, Elves and Intense Lightning Discharges
Particularly intense lightning discharges can produce transient luminous events above thunderclouds, termed sprites, elves and jets. These short lived optical emissions in the mesosphere can reach from the tops of thunderclouds up to the ionosphere; they provide direct evidence of coupling from the lower atmosphere to the upper atmosphere. Sprites are arguably the most dramatic recent discovery in solar-terrestrial physics. Shortly after the first ground based video recordings of sprites, observations on board the Space Shuttle detected sprites and elves occurring all around the world. These reports led to detailed sprite observations in North America, South America, Australia, Japan, and Europe.
Software Engineering for Multi-Agent Systems IV ; Research Issues and Practical Applications
With the integration of computing and communication into the very fabric of our social, economic, and personal existence, the manner in which we think about and build software has become the subject of intense intellectual, scienti?c, and engineering reexamination. New computing paradigms have been proposed and new software architectures are being examined. The study of multi-agent s- tems (MAS) is one important movement energized by a growing awareness that application development may need to follow radically new paths. Fundamentally, MAS denotes a new software speci?cation and design paradigm. Moreover, when viewed in the context of large-scale deployment, it emerges as the embodiment of the quintessential concerns facing the software engineering community today. As computing and communication permeates the essential aspects of the societal infrastructure, software must become more nimble, slimmer, more natural, and more discrete. Software must integrate itself in an organic way into the activities it serves and the resources it exploits.
Semantics in Acquisition
This book is unique in that it relates two linguistic subfields: Semantics and Language Acquisition. The volume contains a collection of writings that focuses on semantic phenomena and their interpretation in the analysis of the language of a learner. The variety of phenomena that are addressed is substantial: temporal aspect and tense, specificity, quantification, scope, finiteness, focus structure, and focus particles. The number of languages in which these phenomena are investigated is very large as well: Dutch, English, German, Inuktitut, Italian, Japanese, and Polish, to name a few. The volume creates a theoretical as well as an empirical bridge between semantic research on the one hand and psycholinguistic acquisition studies on the other.
Security and Privacy in Ad-hoc and Sensor Networks ; Vol. 3813 ; Second European Workshop, ESAS 2005, Visegrad, Hungary, July 13-14, 2005. Revised Selected Papers
It clearly demonstrates the continued importance, popularity and timeliness of the workshop’s topic : security and privacy in adhoc and sensor networks. A total of 51 full papers were submitted. Each submission was reviewed by at least three expert referees. After a short period of intense discussions and deliberations, the Program Committee selected 17 papers for presentation and subsequent publication in the workshop proceedings. This corresponds to an acceptance rate of 33% — a respectable rate by any measure.
Responsibility on trial : Liability standards in International criminal law
Examines the drafting, interpretation, and application of the rules for assessing individual criminal responsibility as those rules emerge from the intense contestations among judges, lawyers, and academics within the legal field. Focusing on the International Criminal Court (ICC), the book provides a rich analysis of the international debates around questions of criminal responsibility by interrogating formal legal documents and legal scholarship alongside more candid accounts .
Research and Advanced Technology for Digital Libraries ; 12th European Conference, ECDL 2008, Aarhus, Denmark, September 14-19, 2008. Proceedings
This book is organized in topical sections on digital preservation, social tagging, quatations and annotations, user studies and system evaluation, from content-centric to person-centric systems, citation analysis, collection building, user interfaces and personalization, interoperability, information retrieval, and metadata generation.
Remnant Raising and Vso Clausal Architecture : A Case Study of San Lucas Quiavini Zapotec
San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec, an endangered and little-examined indigenous language of Mexico, shows a range of syntactic and morphological phenomena incompatible with standard Minimalist accounts of verb movement: verbs and clearly phrasal constituents behave identically in a number of syntactic constructions, and the ordering of verbal morphemes is problematic for standard assumptions of verbal head movement.This work proposes a VP-remnant raising account for these phenomena, motivated by Kayne’s (1992) Antisymmetry program. This work also examines consequences of phrasal remnant movement for negation constructions, question formation; and the interpretation of tense, aspect, and mood.
