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Finite Mixture and Markov Switching Models
The prominence of finite mixture modelling is greater than ever. Many important statistical topics like clustering data, outlier treatment, or dealing with unobserved heterogeneity involve finite mixture models in some way or other. The area of potential applications goes beyond simple data analysis and extends to regression analysis and to non-linear time series analysis using Markov switching models.It is the first time that the Bayesian perspective of finite mixture modelling is systematically presented in book form. It is argued that the Bayesian approach provides much insight in this context and is easily implemented in practice. Although the main focus is on Bayesian inference, the author reviews several frequentist techniques, especially selecting the number of components of a finite mixture model, and discusses some of their shortcomings compared to the Bayesian approach. The aim of this book is to impart the finite mixture and Markov switching approach to statistical modelling to a wide-ranging community. This includes not only statisticians, but also biologists, economists, engineers, financial agents, market researcher, medical researchers or any other frequent user of statistical models. This book should help newcomers to the field to understand how finite mixture and Markov switching models are formulated, what structures they imply on the data, what they could be used for, and how they are estimated.
Femtosecond laser pulses : Principles and experiments
This is the second edition of this advanced textbook written for scientists who require further training in femtosecond science. Four years after pub- cation of the ?rst edition, femtosecond science has overcome new challenges and new application ?elds have become mature. It is necessary to take into account these new developments. Two main topics merged during this period that support important scienti?c activities: attosecond pulses are now gen- ated in the X-UV spectral domain, and coherent control of chemical events is now possible by tailoring the shape of femtosecond pulses. To update this advanced textbook, it was necessary to introduce these ?elds; two new ch- ters are in this second edition: “Coherent Control in Atoms, Molecules, and Solids”(Chap.11)and“AttosecondPulses”(Chap.12)withwell-documented references. Some changes, addenda, and new references are introduced in the ?rst edition’s ten original chapters to take into account new developments and updatethisadvancedtextbookwhichistheresultofascienti?cadventurethat started in 1991. At that time, the French Ministry of Education decided that, in view of the growing importance of ultrashort laser pulses for the national scienti?c community, a Femtosecond Centre should be created in France and devoted to the further education of scientists who use femtosecond pulses as a research tool and who are not specialists in lasers or even in optics.
FastSLAM : A Scalable Method for the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Problem in Robotics
This monograph describes a new family of algorithms for the simultaneous localization and mapping problem in robotics (SLAM). SLAM addresses the problem of acquiring an environment map with a roving robot, while simultaneously localizing the robot relative to this map. This problem has received enormous attention in the robotics community in the past few years, reaching a peak of popularity on the occasion of the DARPA Grand Challenge in October 2005, which was won by the team headed by the authors. The FastSLAM family of algorithms applies particle filters to the SLAM Problem, which provides new insights into the data association problem that is paramount in SLAM. The FastSLAM-type algorithms have enabled robots to acquire maps of unprecedented size and accuracy, in a number of robot application domains and have been successfully applied in different dynamic environments, including the solution to the problem of people tracking.
Fasting and Immunity
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and is observed by Muslims as a month of fasting. All Muslim adults are expected to fast; nevertheless, certain subgroups, including sick, frail subjects, and pregnant women, among others, are exempted. Ramadan fasting has been shown to impact on body systems in different manners. The influence of Ramadan fasting on immune system regulation remains elusive; however, immune system changes, such as the modulation of body response to various infectious, stressful, and other harmful events, are of great interest during fasting.
Fashion forge
"Fashion forge" revolutionizes clothing shopping with a cutting-edge mobile application. This AI-powered platform empowers users to describe their dream garment and visualize it instantly, bridging the gap between imagination and reality for fashion-forward users and designers. A recommendation system tailors clothing suggestions based on user preferences, while stores leverage a dedicated social platform for effective marketing. "Fashion Forge" fosters a connected fashion community, empowering users, designers, and stores alike.
Family-Oriented Primary Care
I was a Medical Student in 1966 when the Millis Report on the training of the generalist physician was published,de?ning the concept of primary care. According to the Report, the primary provider has four major responsib- ities or roles. The ?rst role is that of initial contact care of the undiffer- tiated patient. The second is to provide comprehensive care based on the belief that the primary provider should be able to manage the overwhe- ing majority of problems with which patients present. Equally important is the third role—continuity and coordination of care within the health care system. Finally,the primary provider is responsible for demonstrating le- ership in the community. This Report’s description of a primary provider seems as relevant today as it was when it was written. In 1994,the Institute of Medicine’s assessment of primary care added the responsibility of family and community integration of care to the Millis Report description. Without question there are many challenges to a contemporary imp- mentation of this comprehensive description of primary care, beginning with the level of individual patients who so often suffer from complex pr- lems, such as mental disorders and obesity. Treating these conditions in a brief primary care visit is dif?cult. At the level of the larger system, re- bursement is often inadequate and can represent policies that are uns- portive of primary care, such as those that compromise payment for preventive services that help patients to quit smoking or lose weight.
Extreme Programming and Agile Processes in Software Engineering ; Vol.4044 ; 7th International Conference, XP 2006, Oulu, Finland, June 17-22, 2006, Proceedings
In its first editions, this conference was a get-together of a few pioneers who - bated about how to make agile processes and methods accepted by the mainstream researchers and practitioners in software engineering. Now agile approach to software development has been fully accepted by the software engineering community and this event has become the major forum for understanding better the implications of agility in software development and proposing extensions to the mainstream approaches. These two aspects were fully reflected in this year’s conference. They were - flected in the keynote speeches, which covered the background work done starting as early as the early eighties by Barry Boehm, definition of the field by Kent Beck, a successful industrial application in a success story by Sean Hanly, the perspective and the future of agile methods in large corporations by Jack Järkvik, and even some - sightful views from a philosopher, Pekka Himanen.
Extreme Conflict and Tropical Forests
At a time when the international community is devoting significant attention to the issue of governance as a key factor in global environmental decline, this book provides a timely insight into the relationships between extreme conflict, the international trade in forest products, and the social, economic and environmental condition of tropical forests and their human communities. Drawing on the expertise of both natural and social scientists, Extreme Conflict and Tropical Forests explores the underlying causes and the social and environmental consequences of conflict in tropical forest areas. Case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America present a range of issues – from illicit crops and ‘conflict timber’ production, to the potential of peace parks for improving human security, social quality and biodiversity conservation.
Extrasolar Planets : Saas Fee Advanced Course 31
Research on extrasolar planets is one of the exciting fields of activity in astrophysics, from early speculations on the existence of planets orbiting other stars to the first discoveries and characterization of extrasolar planets. This book talks about this breakthrough as the result of a growing interest of a large community of researchers.
Expert Spring MVC and Web Flow
Expert Spring MVC and Web Flow provides in-depth coverage of Spring MVC and Spring Web Flow, two highly customizable and powerful web frameworks brought to you by the developers and community of the Spring Framework. Spring MVC is a modern web application framework built upon the Spring Framework, and Spring Web Flow is a new project that compliments Spring MVC for building reusable web controller modules that encapsulate rich page navigation rules. Along with detailed analysis of the code and functionality, plus the first-published coverage of Spring Web Flow, this book includes numerous tips and tricks to help you get the most out of Spring MVC, Spring Web Flow, and web development in general.
Evolvable systems : From biology to hardware ; 6th International Conference, ICES 2005, Sitges, Spain, September 12-14, 2005, Proceedings
The flying machines proposed by Leonardo da Vinci in the fifteenth century, the se- reproducing automata theory proposed by John von Neumann in the middle of the twentieth century and the current possibility of designing electronic and mechanical systems using evolutionary principles are all examples of the efforts made by humans to explore the mechanisms present in biological systems that permit them to tackle complex tasks. These initiatives have recently given rise to the emergent field of b- inspired systems and evolvable hardware. The inaugural workshop, Towards Evolvable Hardware, took place in Lausanne in October 1995, followed by the successive events of the International Conference on Evolvable Systems: From Biology to Hardware, held in Tsukuba (Japan) in October 1996, in Lausanne (Switzerland) in September 1998, in Edinburgh (UK) in April 2000, in Tokyo (Japan) in October 2001, and in Trondheim (Norway) in March 2003. Following the success of these past events the sixth international conference was aimed at presenting the latest developments in the field, bringing together researchers who use biologically inspired concepts to implement real systems in artificial intelligence, artificial life, robotics, VLSI design, and related domains. The sixth conference consolidated this biennial event as a reference meeting for the community involved in bio-inspired systems research. All the papers received were reviewed by at least three independent reviewers, thus guaranteeing a high-quality bundle for ICES 2005.
Evolutionary Stasis and Change in the Dominican Republic Neogene
In practice, however, science is no less susceptible to fads, culture shifts, and pendulum swings than any other realm of human endeavor. This is an especially important feature of science to keep in mind in the present climate of shrinking government funding (at least in prop- tion to the demand) and the resulting susceptibility of individual scientists and entire disciplines to being influenced by the changing priorities of funding agencies (even if, as such agencies maintain, those priorities come ultimately “from the c- munity”). The present volume is in several important respects a testimonial to both the threats and opportunities that such scientific culture swings pose, both for the individual researcher and a wider field. When scientific research in the Dominican Republic Neogene began more than a century ago, paleontology was an essentially descriptive discipline, focused mainly on finding, describing, and documenting the taxa represented in the fossil record, and (especially in invertebrate paleontology) on using these taxa for bi- tratigraphic correlation.
Everyday Innovators: Researching the Role of Users in Shaping ICTs
Everyday Innovators explores the active role of people, collectively and individually, in shaping the use of information and communication technologies. It examines issues around acquiring and using that knowledge of users, how we should conceptualise the role of users and understand the forms and limitations of their participation.
Evaluating Information Retrieval and Access Tasks : NTCIR's Legacy of Research Impact
This open access book summarizes the first two decades of the NII Testbeds and Community for Information access Research (NTCIR). NTCIR is a series of evaluation forums run by a global team of researchers and hosted by the National Institute of Informatics (NII), Japan. The book is unique in that it discusses not just what was done at NTCIR, but also how it was done and the impact it has achieved. For example, in some chapters the reader sees the early seeds of what eventually grew to be the search engines that provide access to content on the World Wide Web, today’s smartphones that can tailor what they show to the needs of their owners, and the smart speakers that enrich our lives at home and on the move. We also get glimpses into how new search engines can be built for mathematical formulae, or for the digital record of a lived human life.
Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development
The following sections focus on evaluation of climate change projects and policies as they link to development, from the perspective of international organisations, NGO’s, multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, and academia. The authors share methodologies or approaches used to better understand problems and assess interventions, strategies and policies. They also share challenges encountered, what was done to solve these and lessons learned from evaluations. Collectively, the authors illustrate the importance of evaluation in providing evidence to guide policy change to informed decision-making.
European Oncology Leaders : The CancerFutures Collection 2001-2004
CancerFutures was launched in 2001 with the aim of increasing knowledge about the complex world of cancer care through people and facts. Cover Story and Masterpiece are two key sections of the magazine that have featured in-depth interviews with some of Europe’s most influential oncology leaders – people who have been pioneers of the art and science of oncology over the past 30 years. These interviews comprise a unique collection of stories that give insight into the many personal and professional challenges these leaders have faced in building their careers and pushing forward the boundaries of oncology practice. The European School of Oncology is pleased to launch the CancerFutures Collection which will be of interest to all members of the European oncology community, both today and in the future. This collection acknowledges the tremendous contribution that these leaders have made to cancer care and pays tribute to their dedication and drive. It will provide encouragement for all those confronted with difficulties in building their careers, and will give some inspiration for future leaders.
Esthetic Dentistry in Clinical Practice
As esthetic dentistry continues to grow in popularity, dentists are offered an opportunity to expand their practices and attract new patients. Esthetic Dentistry in Clinical Practice provides dentists with the skills to take advantage of that opportunity. Clearly outlining esthetic procedures, the book enables dentists to treat patients in an efficient and clinically sound manner, bringing esthetic dentistry to everyday practice.
Epigenetics in oncology
Covers the most recent advances in RNA/histone/DNA epigenetics in Oncology. RNA/histone/DNA epigenetics have been shown to play pivotal roles in cancer initiation, progression, maintenance and drug response/resistance, tumor microenvironment, cancer stem cell self-renewal, cancer metabolism, and tumor immune evasion. In particular, research in RNA cancer epigenetics has made impressive progress in the last few years. Individual chapters in Part I (focusing on RNA epigenetics) are devoted to RNA modifications in Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment, Cancer Stem Cell Biology, Immune Surveillance, Solid Tumors and Tumor Immunity, and Hematopoietic Malignancies, as well as to RNA editing in Cancer. Chapters in Part II and III of the book focus on histone epigenetics and DNA epigenetics, respectively.
Environments for Multi-Agent Systems ; 1st International Workshop, E4MAS, 2004, New York, NY, July 19, 2004, Revised Selected Papers
The modern ?eld of multiagent systems has developed from two main lines of earlier research. Its practitioners generally regard it as a form of arti?cial intelligence (AI). Some of its earliest work was reported in a series of workshops in the US dating from1980,revealinglyentitled,“DistributedArti?cialIntelligence,”andpioneers often quoted a statement attributed to Nils Nilsson that “all AI is distributed. ” The locus of classical AI was what happens in the head of a single agent, and much MAS research re?ects this heritage with its emphasis on detailed modeling of the mental state and processes of individual agents. From this perspective, intelligenceisultimatelythepurviewofasinglemind,thoughitcanbeampli?ed by appropriate interactions with other minds. These interactions are typically mediated by structured protocols of various sorts, modeled on human conver- tional behavior. But the modern ?eld of MAS was not born of a single parent. A few - searchershavepersistentlyadvocatedideasfromthe?eldofarti?ciallife(ALife). These scientists were impressed by the complex adaptive behaviors of commu- ties of animals (often extremely simple animals, such as insects or even micro- ganisms). The computational models on which they drew were often created by biologists who used them not to solve practical engineering problems but to test their hypotheses about the mechanisms used by natural systems. In the ar- ?cial life model, intelligence need not reside in a single agent, but emerges at the level of the community from the nonlinear interactions among agents. - cause the individual agents are often subcognitive, their interactions cannot be modeled by protocols that presume linguistic competence.
Environmental Role of Wetlands in Headwaters
Internationally, the wetlands of headwater and upland regions provide many valuable environmental services. This book moves towards a more comprehensive inventory of the benefits and costs of headwater wetlands. It evaluates the research that tries to understand the tolerances, exchanges, checks and balances within headwater landscapes and the downstream impacts of changes in wetlands. It employs case studies and reviews from 21 nations spanning Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. It explores the new policy frameworks, changes in land husbandry, new systems for community education, participatory processes and technological interventions required for the effective management of headwater wetlands and the full integration of wetlands (including newly constructed wetlands) into environmental management and planning. In the past, most research dealt with wetlands as isolated features, this book examines wetlands in their watershed management context.
