Search results for ""Imperial College Press""

Advances in Earth Science outlines the latest developments and new research directions currently being made world-wide in the earth sciences. It contains invited and refereed articles by leading younger researchers on their cutting-edge research, but aimed at a general scientific audience.This exciting volume explains how powerful methodologies such as satellite remote sensing and supercomputing simulations are now profoundly changing research in the earth sciences; how the earth system is increasingly being viewed in a holistic way, linking the atmosphere, ocean and solid earth; and how the societal impact of the research in the earth sciences has never been more important.Published by Imperial College Press in collaboration with the Royal Society of London, the book features many articles originating from invited papers published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Eleven of the distinguished contributors hold prestigious Royal Society Research Fellowships.

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The principle of local activity explains the emergence of complex patterns in a homogeneous medium. At first defined in the theory of nonlinear electronic circuits in a mathematically rigorous way, it can be generalized and proven at least for the class of nonlinear reaction-diffusion systems in physics, chemistry, biology, and brain research. Recently, it was realized by memristors for nanoelectronic device applications. In general, the emergence of complex patterns and structures is explained by symmetry breaking in homogeneous media, which is caused by local activity. This book argues that the principle of local activity is really fundamental in science, and can even be identified in quantum cosmology as symmetry breaking of local gauge symmetries generating the complexity of matter and forces in our universe. Applications are considered in economic, financial, and social systems with the emergence of equilibrium states, symmetry breaking at critical points of phase transitions and risky acting at the edge of chaos.

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Companies like Enron, WorldCom, and Siemens have defined the dark side of the corporate world in the 21st century. This timely book is designed to address the diverse requirements of directors and heightened investor awareness, with an intelligent and comprehensive presentation of the structure and practice of boardroom management.The second edition takes account of recent developments like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, codes of conduct promulgated by non-government organizations and institutional investors, debates over the audit committee's roles and responsibilities, and new cases illustrating the problems facing directors as they negotiate the twin challenges of global competition and social responsibility. It walks readers through the legal and philosophical theories of corporate governance, translates these into practical implications for boardroom practices, and guides managers and directors on how to build their own frameworks for considering ethical and strategic issues that routinely appear in the boardroom. The practical approach is complemented by numerous illustrations and cases at the end of each chapter for discussion and self-appraisal.

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Platelets in Cardiovascular Disease provides an in-depth and current coverage of relevant platelet biology and antiplatelet therapy that is in clinical use today and potentially for the future. The book provides a succinct overview of the critical role of platelets in cardiovascular medicine.Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality worldwide, and recent research has found that the platelet is central to the genesis of heart attacks and stroke as well as many of the complications of angioplasty and bypass surgery. An explosion of knowledge of the biology of platelets has established their important role in the formation of blood clots and, perhaps more intriguingly, their role as inflammatory cells. This growth in information has been paralleled by the development of several drugs that can interfere with platelet action and thereby improve patient outcomes. Indeed, several antiplatelet drugs already in development may ultimately lead to marked advances in both the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease.Drawing upon a panel of international experts, Platelets in Cardiovascular Disease delivers a concise yet thorough review of the major developments in antiplatelet therapy. Practicing clinicians as well as those involved in the development of new antithrombotic therapies will find the book interesting and useful.

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This volume introduces readers to the world of disordered systems and to some of the remarkable probabilistic techniques developed in the field. The author explores in depth a class of directed polymer models to which much attention has been devoted in the last 25 years, in particular in the fields of physical and biological sciences. The models treated have been widely used in studying, for example, the phenomena of polymer pinning on a defect line, the behavior of copolymers in proximity to an interface between selective solvents and the DNA denaturation transition. In spite of the apparent heterogeneity of this list, in mathematical terms, a unified vision emerges. One is in fact dealing with the natural statistical mechanics systems built on classical renewal sequences by introducing one-body potentials.This volume is also a self-contained mathematical account of the state of the art for this class of statistical mechanics models.

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This book discusses the methods used in helio- and asteroseismology for the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. It is the first comprehensive discussion of helioseismic and asteroseismic methodology, collecting techniques from over 300 research papers spread out over decades, with a critical discussion and inter-comparison. It enables the reader to follow the path of inference from the collection of the data at the telescope through to the understanding gained in terms of the modeling of solar and stellar physics and stellar evolution.By focusing on how results are obtained, rather than on the results themselves, this book provides the essential background needed to understand this field, which is rapidly advancing due to the availability of modern observing facilities both on the ground and in space. The material is accessible for advanced undergraduates and post-graduates, and provides an essential resource for researchers in the field.

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This is the first major history of Imperial College London. The book tells the story of a new type of institution that came into being in 1907 with the federation of three older colleges. Imperial College was founded by the state for advanced university-level training in science and technology, and for the promotion of research in support of industry throughout the British Empire. True to its name the college built a wide number of Imperial links and was an outward looking institution from the start. Today, in the post-colonial world, it retains its outward-looking stance, both in its many international research connections, and with staff and students from around the world. Connections to industry and the state remain important. The College is one of Britain's premier research and teaching institutions, including now medicine alongside science and engineering. This book is an in-depth study of Imperial College; it covers both governance and academic activity within the larger context of political, economic and socio-cultural life in twentieth-century Britain.

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This engaging book provides a state-of-the-art introduction to the rapidly evolving field of mechanical circulatory support therapy in the care of patients with advanced heart failure. It is aimed at healthcare teams around the world who are involved in patient care, research, and teaching of advanced heart failure; healthcare professionals in training; and interested lay persons.In particular, this book• serves as a comprehensive resource and practice guide on all aspects of mechanical circulatory support therapy, starting with an overview on heart failure management and then continuing with the referral and evaluation, the care before and after mechanical circulatory support implantation, the analysis of outcomes and complications, as well as a description of research and societal perspectives in the field of mechanical circulatory support therapy;• is founded on the expertise of Columbia University Medical Center (New York City), which has one of the most renowned heart failure, mechanical circulatory support, and heart transplantation programs in the world;• takes a multidisciplinary integrated healthcare team approach, including the perspectives of cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, nurses, coordinators, social workers, psychologists, physical therapists, financial experts, and bioethicists; and• provides in a unique way the complementary viewpoints from the expert healthcare team's as well as the patient's and family's perspectives, with patient vignettes interspersed throughout the entire text.

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Space-time array communications have gained a great deal of interest in recent years. Its superior performance in practical multipath propagation environments has established it as a core aspect in next generation mobile networks, as well as several portable wireless communication systems. In fact the employment of the sensor array component has already been provided for in the current UMTS standard, and there is presently a major thrust to make space-time processing an important part of 3G/4G networks. This book hence attempts to bridge the knowledge gap, looking at the integration of two emerging technologies from an array manifold perspective — space-time array processing and spread spectrum multiple access communications. It covers a range of novel multiuser channel estimation and reception techniques, which is designed to provide mitigations of the various associated channel impairments in accordance to its environmental context. For convenience of the readers, the book is written in a self-contained modular format with its mathematical frameworks and tools readily extendable to other research domains.

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In recent years, the way open source software is developed has taken hold as a valid alternative to commercial proprietary methods, as have the products themselves, e.g., the Linux operating system, Apache web-server software, and Mozilla Firefox browser. But what is open source software? How is the open source community organized? What makes this new model successful? What effects has it had and might it have on the future of the IT industry, companies and government policies? These and many other questions are answered in this book.The first chapter gives a brief history of the open source community and the second chapter takes a close look at the relationship between intellectual property rights and software, both open source and proprietary. The next three chapters consider the who, the open source community, the how, software development both within and outside the community, and the what, open source projects and product quality. Chapters 6 and 7 focus on the different users of open source software: companies and governments respectively. These are followed by two chapters that interpret the phenomenon, first from an organizational point of view in Chapter 8 and then using the theory of complex adaptive systems in Chapter 9. The last chapter explores the current and potential applications of the concept underlying open source software in other fields.

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Covering both the theoretical and practical aspects of fault-tolerant mobile systems, and fault tolerance and analysis, this book tackles the current issues of reliability-based optimization of computer networks, fault-tolerant mobile systems, and fault tolerance and reliability of high speed and hierarchical networks.The book is divided into six parts to facilitate coverage of the material by course instructors and computer systems professionals. The sequence of chapters in each part ensures the gradual coverage of issues from the basics to the most recent developments. A useful set of references, including electronic sources, is listed at the end of each chapter.

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This volume is concerned with functional nanomaterials: materials containing specific, predictable nanostructure whose chemical composition or interfacial structure enable them to perform a specific job — destroy, sequester or detect some material that constitutes an environmental threat. Nanomaterials have a number of features that make them ideally suited for this job: high surface area, high reactivity, easy dispersability, and rapid diffusion. The purpose of this book is to showcase how these features can be tailored to address some of the environmental remediation and sensing/detection problems faced today. The leading researchers contributing to this volume paint a picture of diverse synthetic strategies, structures, materials and methods. The book is organized into sections on nanoparticle-based remediation strategies, nanostructured inorganic materials (such as layered materials like the apatites), nanostructured organic/inorganic hybrid materials, and the use of nanomaterials to enhance the performance of sensors. The chemistries captured by the contributors form a rich and colorful tapestry.

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This book summarizes the main results achieved in a four-year European Project on nonlinear and adaptive control. The project involves leading researchers from top-notch institutions: Imperial College London (Prof A Astolfi), Lund University (Prof A Rantzer), Supelec Paris (Prof R Ortega), University of Technology of Compiegne (Prof R Lozano), Grenoble Polytechnic (Prof C Canudas de Wit), University of Twente (Prof A van der Schaft), Politecnico of Milan (Prof S Bittanti), and Polytechnic University of Valencia (Prof P Albertos).The book also provides an introduction to theoretical advances in nonlinear and adaptive control and an overview of novel applications of advanced control theory, particularly topics on the control of partially known systems, under-actuated systems, and bioreactors.

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A concise, clear writing style and a detailed and rich coverage of topics are the reasons that students found the first edition of the book so engaging and useful.Riding on this wave, all chapters within the second edition of this popular book have been thoroughly updated and expanded, especially the human and animal materials. A wider range of animals is covered, including dogs and cats as well as farm animals. The use of cord blood for therapy, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and animal cloning are also explored and dealt with.

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Because vertebrate circulations do not work when shrunk to insect sizes, insects may help us design our smallest machines. Within small bodies, bees separate diffusing substances in an open cavity assisted by locomotion and the beat of the heart. The open arthropod circulation, however, is most efficient when shrunk until its large three-dimensional volume of blood turns into a two-dimensional film of fluid covering only the internal surfaces. This transformation increases the chances to near-certainty that molecules can diffuse from one point to another without getting lost.The Incredible Shrinking Bee expresses mathematics in words so that most readers can compare today's microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices with a honeybee's circulation, introducing ideas of biominiaturization to workers interested in developing compact energy and chemical systems. When it comes to shrinking systems, bees have the edge on human ingenuity. A farrago of ideas and disciplines, The Incredible Shrinking Bee provides a springboard for discussion and research for computer scientists, entomologists, systems biologists, physiologists, mathematicians, engineers and anyone wanting to learn how bees move things around in their bodies to do what we are trying to do smaller and better.

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Reviewing the fundamental instrumental techniques and current observational results, this book unveils the mysteries of the physical processes in the central parsec of our Milky Way: the super-massive black hole embedded in a central stellar cluster as well as the gas and dust in the circumnuclear region.The observations described cover the entire electromagnetic spectrum from decimeter radio-waves to high energy X-ray and γ-rays, and a comprehensive summary of up-to-date astrophysical interpretations is given.The emphasis is put on observational techniques, image processing aspects, and a detailed presentation of the most cutting-edge work carried out in the near-infrared wavelength regime. These recent results include both the first orbits of stars around the central black hole and the multiwavelength variability of the central source.

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This book presents a concise treatment of stochastic calculus and its applications. It gives a simple but rigorous treatment of the subject including a range of advanced topics, it is useful for practitioners who use advanced theoretical results. It covers advanced applications, such as models in mathematical finance, biology and engineering.Self-contained and unified in presentation, the book contains many solved examples and exercises. It may be used as a textbook by advanced undergraduates and graduate students in stochastic calculus and financial mathematics. It is also suitable for practitioners who wish to gain an understanding or working knowledge of the subject. For mathematicians, this book could be a first text on stochastic calculus; it is good companion to more advanced texts by a way of examples and exercises. For people from other fields, it provides a way to gain a working knowledge of stochastic calculus. It shows all readers the applications of stochastic calculus methods and takes readers to the technical level required in research and sophisticated modelling.This second edition contains a new chapter on bonds, interest rates and their options. New materials include more worked out examples in all chapters, best estimators, more results on change of time, change of measure, random measures, new results on exotic options, FX options, stochastic and implied volatility, models of the age-dependent branching process and the stochastic Lotka-Volterra model in biology, non-linear filtering in engineering and five new figures.Instructors can obtain slides of the text from the author.

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In recent years, MEMS have revolutionized the semiconductor industry, with sensors being a particularly buoyant sector. Smart MEMS and Sensor Systems presents readers with the means to understand, evaluate, appreciate and participate in the development of the field, from a unique systems perspective.The combination of MEMS and integrated intelligence has been put forward as a disruptive technology. The full potential of this technology is only evident when it is used to construct very large pervasive sensing systems. The book explores the many different technologies needed to build such systems and integrates knowledge from three different domains: MEMS technology, sensor system electronics and pervasive computing science.Throughout the book a top-down design perspective is taken, be it for the development of a single smart sensor or that of adaptive ad-hoc networks of millions of sensors.For experts in any of the domains named above the book provides the context for their MEMS based design work and an understanding of the role the other domains play. For the generalist (either in engineering or computing) or the technology manager the underpinning knowledge is provided, which can inform specialist decision making.

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This indispensable book is a compilation of invited talks delivered at the symposium, “Current Topics in Physics” held in Mexico City in June 2003, to celebrate the 75th birthday of Professor Sir Roger Elliott. The contributions have been prepared by research associates, former students, post-doctoral fellows and colleagues of Professor Elliott, many of them leading scientists — as Sir Roger himself — in important research institutes around the world. The book gives a very timely and comprehensive overview of various key areas of modern condensed matter and statistical physics. 19 original contributions are included, grouped in three main areas: disorder and dynamical systems, structures and glasses, electrical and magnetic properties.The contributions are by many of the foremost researchers in the field of condensed matter and statistical physics. In particular, contributions by such prominent scientists as M E Fisher, A A Maradudin, M F Thorpe, M Balkanski, T Fujiwara, and of course Sir Roger Elliott himself make this book a rewarding read.

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This book counteracts the current fashion for theories of “chaos” and unpredictability by describing a theory that underpins the surprising accuracy of current deterministic weather forecasts, and it suggests that further improvements are possible. The book does this by making a unique link between an exciting new branch of mathematics called “optimal transportation” and existing classical theories of the large-scale atmosphere and ocean circulation. It is then possible to solve a set of simple equations proposed many years ago by Hoskins which are asymptotically valid on large scales, and use them to derive quantitative predictions about many large-scale atmospheric and oceanic phenomena. A particular feature is that the simple equations used have highly predictable solutions, thus suggesting that the limits of deterministic predictability of the weather may not yet have been reached. It is also possible to make rigorous statements about the large-scale behaviour of the atmosphere and ocean by proving results using these simple equations and applying them to the real system allowing for the errors in the approximation. There are a number of other titles in this field, but they do not treat this large-scale regime.

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Where do stars come from and how do they form? These are profound questions which link the nature of our Universe to the roots of mankind. Yet, until a recent revolution in understanding, the proposed answers have been raw speculation. Now, accompanying penetrating observations, a new picture has come into prominence.This book presents the latest astounding observations and scientific ideas covering star formation, star birth and early development. It encompasses all aspects, from the dramatic stories of individual objects, to the collective influence of entire stellar systems.The very first stars to come into existence and the nurturing of planets are discussed to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview. Presenting background information with only the essential mathematics, this book will appeal to scientists wishing to expand their horizons, students seeking solid foundations, and general readers with enquiring minds.

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Is Science Neurotic? sets out to show that science suffers from a damaging but rarely noticed methodological disease — “rationalistic neurosis.” Assumptions concerning metaphysics, human value and politics, implicit in the aims of science, are repressed, and the malaise has spread to affect the whole academic enterprise, with the potential for extraordinarily damaging long-term consequences.The book begins with a discussion of the aims and methods of natural science, and moves on to discuss social science, philosophy, education, psychoanalytic theory and academic inquiry as a whole. It makes an original and compelling contribution to the current debate between those for and those against science, arguing that science would be of greater human value if it were more rigorous — we suffer not from too much scientific rationality, but too little. The author discusses the need for a revolution in the aims of science and academic inquiry in general and, in a lively and accessible style, spells out a thesis with profound importance for the long-term future of humanity.

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This book focuses on mesh (grid) enhancement techniques — specifically, the use of selected elliptic methods for both structured and unstructured meshes associated with computational physics applications. Mesh enhancement is the process in which an existing mesh is modified to better meet the requirements of the physics application. To provide the reader with sufficient background information, seven of the nine chapters contain a summary of the numerical simulation process, basic background on mesh terminology and generation approaches, computational geometry, discretization of differential equations, methods of solving linear and nonlinear algebraic systems, geometry of surfaces in Euclidean space, and general elliptic methods for mesh enhancement. Furthermore, these chapters use the concept of harmonic coordinates to develop a unifying framework, the Laplace-Beltrami system, which is the governing principle of the book. The final two chapters apply this scheme, along with other selected elliptic methods, to various structured and unstructured example problems.

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In a brilliant flash about fourteen billion years ago, time and matter were born in a single instant of creation. An immensely hot and dense universe began its rapid expansion everywhere, creating space where there was no space and time where there was no time. In the intense fire just after the beginning, the lightest elements were forged, later to form primordial clouds that eventually evolved into galaxies, stars, and planets. This evolution is the story told in this fascinating book. Interwoven with the storyline are short pieces on the pioneering men and women who revealed those wonders to us.

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Cosmology is an unusual science with an unusual history. This book examines the formative years of modern cosmology from the perspective of its interaction with religious thought. As the first study of its kind, it reveals how closely associated the development of cosmology has been with considerations of a philosophical and religious nature. From nineteenth-century thermodynamics to the pioneering cosmological works of Georges Lemaître and Arthur E Milne, religion has shaped parts of modern cosmological theory. By taking the religious component seriously, a new and richer history of cosmology emerges.

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A wide variety of materials is being used in biomedical engineering for various functions. This includes a range of ceramics, polymers and metallic materials for implants and medical devices. A major question is how these materials will perform inside the body, which is very sensitive to alien materials. The material must not only survive to perform its intended function but also not initiate any damage to the surrounding tissue or induce a wider health problem. The service characteristics of implanted materials are of vital concern to health treatments that alleviate ageing.This book collates information and provides a concise text on the performance of different materials used in devices and implants. The knowledge presented is critical for a biomedical engineer, especially for the purpose of selecting the right materials. In addition, topics such as allergies and infection, tissue scaffolds, and drug delivery are reviewed.

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This book provides the first systematic discourse on a very peculiar approach to the theory of strongly correlated systems. Hubbard X-operators have been known for a long time but have not been widely used because of their awkward algebra. The book shows that it is possible to deal with X-operators even in the general multilevel local eigenstate system, and not just in the case of the nondegenerate Hubbard model. X-operators provide the natural language for describing quasiparticles in the Hubbard subbands with unusual doping and temperature-dependent band structures.The X-operator diagram technique is presented in detail, so that a newcomer with knowledge of the usual Fermi/Bose operator diagram technique can use the former after reading the book.Examples are taken from the theory of high-Tc superconductivity, rare-earth compounds with strong magnetic anisotropy and quantum oscillations in strongly correlated systems.

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This book provides an overview of recent, predominantly European, thinking on the issues and challenges for innovation management in the modern, knowledge-based economy. The topic is explored in four directions: the growing importance of services and of innovation in services; the growing interest in competence-based approaches of strategy and innovation; the role of technology in innovation processes; and the increasing importance of knowledge management in innovation management. Each direction is briefly introduced by the editor. The contributions come from universities and management schools in Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, The Netherlands and the United States.

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Recent discoveries of new materials and improvements in calorimetric techniques have given new impetus to the subject of specific heat. Nevertheless, there is a serious lack of literature on the subject. This invaluable book, which goes some way towards remedying that, is concerned mainly with the specific heat of matter at ordinary temperatures. It discusses the principles that underlie the theory of specific heat and considers a number of theoretical models in some detail. The subject matter ranges from traditional materials to those recently discovered — heavy fermion compounds, high temperature superconductors, spin glasses and so on — and includes a large number of figures, tables and references. The book will be particularly useful for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as academics and researchers.

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The concept of dependence permeates the Earth and its inhabitants in a most profound manner. Examples of interdependent meteorological phenomena in nature and interdependence in the medical, social, and political aspects of our existence, not to mention the economic structures, are too numerous to be cited individually. Moreover, the dependence is obviously not deterministic but of a stochastic nature. However, it seems that none of the departments of statistics, engineering, economics and mathematics in the academic institutions throughout the world offer courses dealing with dependence concepts and measures.This book can thus be viewed as an attempt to remedy the situation, and it has been written for a graduate course or a seminar on correlation and dependence concepts and measures. A modest background in mathematical statistics and probability and integral calculus is required. The book is not a full-scale expedition up another statistical Alp. Rather, it is a tour over a somewhat neglected but important terrain. The chapter on correlation is written for a layman.

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This book contains recent inaugural lectures by professors of environmental science and technology at Imperial College in London. They cover a variety of topics, ranging from the Earth's climate to pests and pesticides, illustrating the diverse and interdisciplinary nature of environmental problems.They are written by leading authorities in their disciplines but at a level that makes them accessible to all students of the environment.

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This unique advanced textbook provides a clear and comprehensive description of the field of gene delivery, gene therapy and genetic pharmacology, with descriptions of the main gene transfer vectors and a set of selected therapeutic applications, along with safety considerations.The use of gene transfer is exponentially growing in the scientific and medical communities for day-to-day cell biology experiments and swift development of revolutionary gene therapy strategies. In this advanced textbook, more than 25 leading scientists, world-renowned in their respective fields, come together to provide a clear and comprehensive description of gene delivery, gene therapy and genetic pharmacology.This educational introduction to the main gene transfer vectors and selected therapeutic applications provides the background material needed to further explore the subject as well as relevant research literature. It will thus be invaluable to Master, PhD or MD students, post-doctoral scientists or medical doctors, as well as any scientist wishing to deliver a gene or synthetic nucleotide, or develop a gene therapy strategy. Furthermore, the textbook's simple and synthetic content will be of value to any reader interested in the biological and medical revolution derived from the elucidation of the human genome.

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Anaerobic technology has become widely accepted by the environmental industry as a cost-effective alternative to the conventional aerobic process. In addition, with the intrinsic advantages of energy saving, reduced sludge yield, and production of biofuel, anaerobic process will be the favored green treatment technology for sustainable environment in years to come.Written by 40 renowned experts from 13 countries/regions, this book consists of 18 chapters compiling state-of-the-art information on new developments in various aspects of anaerobic technology. These include development of new types of reactors, uses of molecular techniques for microbial studies and mathematical modeling, productions of bio-hydrogen by fermentation and microbial electrolysis cell, as well as broadening applications to the treatment of municipal wastewater, effluents from chemical industry and agricultural wastes with high lignocellulose content.

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This book represents the coming together of a number of internationally renowned scholars from science, philosophy, law and social science. Each author presents a distinctive and critical account of the current ethical, social and jurisprudential issues concerning stem cell science: together covering both its research beginnings, and the future translation into the clinical setting. Original to this volume is an emphasis on the inter-state implications of developments in stem cell science from the perspective of a truly global collaboration of leading authors. Academics and policy-makers will find it an invaluable contribution to the socio-political and ethical discourse of stem cell science.

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Networks provide a very useful way to describe a wide range of different data types in biology, physics and elsewhere. Apart from providing a convenient tool to visualize highly dependent data, networks allow stringent mathematical and statistical analysis.In recent years, much progress has been achieved to interpret various types of biological network data such as transcriptomic, metabolomic and protein interaction data as well as epidemiological data. Of particular interest is to understand the organization, complexity and dynamics of biological networks and how these are influenced by network evolution and functionality.This book reviews and explores statistical, mathematical and evolutionary theory and tools in the understanding of biological networks. The book is divided into comprehensive and self-contained chapters, each of which focuses on an important biological network type, explains concepts and theory and illustrates how these can be used to obtain insight into biologically relevant processes and questions. There are chapters covering metabolic, transcriptomic, protein interaction and epidemiological networks as well as chapters that deal with theoretical and conceptual material. The authors, who contribute to the book, are active, highly regarded and well-known in the network community.

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Many biological systems and objects are intrinsically fuzzy as their properties and behaviors contain randomness or uncertainty. In addition, it has been shown that exact or optimal methods have significant limitation in many bioinformatics problems. Fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic are ideal to describe some biological systems/objects and provide good tools for some bioinformatics problems. This book comprehensively addresses several important bioinformatics topics using fuzzy concepts and approaches, including measurement of ontological similarity, protein structure prediction/analysis, and microarray data analysis. It also reviews other bioinformatics applications using fuzzy techniques.

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This book uses history to introduce central issues in the philosophy of chemistry. Mobilizing the theme of impurity, it explores the tradition of chemistry's negative image. It then argues for the positive philosophical value of chemistry, reflecting its characteristic practical engagement with the material world. The book concludes with some ethical reflections concerning chemistry's orientations in the twenty-first century.The authors have previously both offered significant contributions to the history and philosophy of chemistry.

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This unique book explores the definition, sources and role of randomness. A joyful discussion with many non-mathematical and mathematical examples leads to the identification of three sources of randomness: randomness due to irreversibility which inhibits us from extracting whatever rules may underlie a process, randomness due to our inability to have infinite power (chaos), and randomness due to many interacting systems. Here, all sources are found to have something in common: infinity. The discussion then moves to the physical system (our universe). Through the quantum mechanical character of small scales, the second law of thermodynamics and chaos, randomness is shown to be an intrinsic property of nature — this is consistent with the three sources of randomness identified above. Finally, an explanation is given as to why rules and randomness cannot exist by themselves, but instead have to coexist. Many examples are presented, ranging from pure mathematical to natural and social processes, that clearly demonstrate how the combination of rules and randomness produces the world we live in.

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Advances in Tissue Engineering is a unique volume and the first of its kind to bring together leading names in the field of tissue engineering and stem cell research. A relatively young science, tissue engineering can be seen in both scientific and sociological contexts and successes in the field are now leading to clinical reality. This book attempts to define the path from basic science to practical application. A contribution from the UK Stem Cell Bank and opinions of venture capitalists offer a variety of viewpoints, and exciting new areas of stem cell biology are highlighted. With over fifty stellar contributors, this book presents the most up-to-date information in this very topical and exciting field.

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The Tao of Innovation is the first book to blend Eastern philosophy with tried-and-true innovation strategies. It presents a holistic, intuitive and practical approach to developing game-changing innovation.Having over 30 years of real-world global corporate, entrepreneurial, and consulting experience, and more than 10 years of teaching innovation and entrepreneurship to thousands of students in the East and West, the authors have distilled the most influential thinking on innovation into a holistic set of nine key innovation questions that every innovator must answer throughout the innovation cycle. These provocations apply to any business or organization and illuminate fundamental principles and practices of successful innovation. The Tao of Innovation's use of nature's fundamental elements and the yin-yang's balance of opposing forces as metaphors, provide simple ways to navigate the complexities of business and innovation. They blend art, science, and Eastern and Western philosophies of what it takes to be an innovator.This book is written for individuals who have a passion for initiating change but struggle to find a process or methodology that helps them translate their dream into practical action steps that will get them through implementation. It aims to help organizations of all types proactively stay ahead in a rapidly changing world and change the world for the better.In short, this book is a fresh East-meets-West approach to innovation, helping readers develop a strategy to implement real change and ultimately achieve their innovation dream.

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This widely acclaimed text, now in its sixth edition and translated into many languages, continues to present a clear, simple and concise introduction to chemical thermodynamics. An examination of equilibrium in the everyday world of mechanical objects provides a starting point for an accessible account of the factors that determine equilibrium in chemical systems. This straightforward approach leads students to a thorough understanding of the basic principles of thermodynamics, which are then applied to a wide range of physical chemical systems. The book also discusses the problems of non-ideal solutions and the concept of activity, and provides an introduction to the molecular basis of thermodynamics. Over six editions, the views of teachers of the subject and their students have been incorporated. Reference to the phase rule has been included in this edition and the notation has been revised to conform to current IUPAC recommendations. Students taking courses in thermodynamics will continue to find this popular book an excellent introductory text.

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Over 500 prokaryotic genomes have been sequenced to date, and thousands more have been planned for the next few years. While these genomic sequence data provide unprecedented opportunities for biologists to study the world of prokaryotes, they also raise extremely challenging issues such as how to decode the rich information encoded in these genomes. This comprehensive volume includes a collection of cohesively written chapters on prokaryotic genomes, their organization and evolution, the information they encode, and the computational approaches needed to derive such information. A comparative view of bacterial and archaeal genomes, and how information is encoded differently in them, is also presented. Combining theoretical discussions and computational techniques, the book serves as a valuable introductory textbook for graduate-level microbial genomics and informatics courses.

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Stem cells have generated considerable interest recently in the scientific, clinical, and public arenas. The third book in the Stem Cell Repair and Regeneration series offers contributions from numerous areas bridging medicine and the life sciences.Significant research activities in the tissue engineering or regenerative medicine (the term recently used) field started in the 1970s, and there is currently great excitement over the possibility of replacing damaged body parts through regenerative medicine. Potential strategies to replace, repair and restore the function of damaged tissues or organs include stem cell transplantation, transplantation of tissues engineered in the laboratory, and the induction of regeneration by the body's own cells. It is believed that novel cellular therapeutics outperform any medical device, recombinant protein or chemical compound.This volume explores novel stem cell therapeutic strategies for myriad diseases, including renal failure, retinal disease and myocardial infarction.

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This book provides an in-depth treatment of the study of the stability of engineering structures. Contributions from internationally recognized leaders in the field ensure a wide coverage of engineering disciplines in which structural stability is of importance, in particular the analytical and numerical modelling of structural stability applied to aeronautical, civil, marine and offshore structures. The results from a number of comprehensive experimental test programs are also presented, thus enhancing our understanding of stability phenomena as well as validating the analytical and computational solution schemes presented. A variety of structural materials are investigated with special emphasis on carbon-fibre composites, which are being increasingly utilized in weight-critical structures. Instabilities at the meso- and micro-scales are also discussed. This book will be particularly relevant to professional engineers, graduate students and researchers interested in structural stability.

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Pseudo-Riemannian geometry is an active research field not only in differential geometry but also in mathematical physics where the higher signature geometries play a role in brane theory. An essential reference tool for research mathematicians and physicists, this book also serves as a useful introduction to students entering this active and rapidly growing field. The author presents a comprehensive treatment of several aspects of pseudo-Riemannian geometry, including the spectral geometry of the curvature tensor, curvature homogeneity, and Stanilov-Tsankov-Videv theory.

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This book outlines a selection of exciting advances currently being made worldwide in the field of modern engineering at the nanometer scale. Leading scientists and engineers give a general overview of research advances in their specialized subject areas. They also describe some of their own cutting-edge research and give their visions of the future.Written in a popular and well-illustrated style, the articles are written by young scientists many of whom hold, or have held, prestigious Royal Society or EPSRC Fellowships. Carefully selected by Professor A G Davies and Professor J M T Thompson FRS, topics include: the fabrication and measurement of nanoelectronic devices, organic conductors, and bioelectronic materials; the assembly of such structures into appropriate configurations, including the use of biological processes to drive the assembly; the development of new materials including both organic and inorganic wires, carbon nanotubes, and magnetic materials; and finally, the analysis and characterization of these structures.The book conveys the excitement and enthusiasm of the authors for their work at the frontiers of modern engineering nanotechnology. All are definitive reviews for readers with a general interest in the future directions of science and engineering at the nanometer scale.

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This volume is concerned with functional nanomaterials: materials containing specific, predictable nanostructure whose chemical composition or interfacial structure enable them to perform a specific job — destroy, sequester or detect some material that constitutes an environmental threat. Nanomaterials have a number of features that make them ideally suited for this job: high surface area, high reactivity, easy dispersability, and rapid diffusion. The purpose of this book is to showcase how these features can be tailored to address some of the environmental remediation and sensing/detection problems faced today. The leading researchers contributing to this volume paint a picture of diverse synthetic strategies, structures, materials and methods. The book is organized into sections on nanoparticle-based remediation strategies, nanostructured inorganic materials (such as layered materials like the apatites), nanostructured organic/inorganic hybrid materials, and the use of nanomaterials to enhance the performance of sensors. The chemistries captured by the contributors form a rich and colorful tapestry.

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This book provides an introduction for graduate students and advanced undergraduate students to the field of astrophysical fluid dynamics. Although sometimes ignored, fluid dynamical processes play a central role in virtually all areas of astrophysics.No previous knowledge of fluid dynamics is assumed. After establishing the basic equations of fluid dynamics and the physics relevant to an astrophysical application, a variety of topics in the field are addressed. There is also a chapter introducing the reader to numerical methods. Appendices list useful physical constants and astronomical quantities, and provide handy reference material on Cartesian tensors, vector calculus in polar coordinates, self-adjoint eigenvalue problems and JWKB theory.

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