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This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Analytical and Stochastic Modelling Techniques and Applications, ASMTA 2017, held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne UK, in July 2017.The 14 full papers presented in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 27 submissions. The scope of the conference is on following topics: analytical, numerical and simulation algorithms for stochastic systems, including Markov processes, queueing networks, stochastic Petri nets, process algebras, game theoretical models. Product details Format Paperback | 213 pages Dimensions 155 ...

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 15th IFIP TC8 International Conference on Computer Information Systems and Industrial Management, CISIM 2016, held in Vilnius, Lithuania, in September 2016. The 63 regular papers presented together with 1 inivted paper and 5 keynotes in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from about 89 submissions. The main topics covered are rough set methods for big data analytics; images, visualization, classification; optimization, tuning; scheduling in manufacturing and other applications; algorithms; decisions; intelligent distributed systems; and biometrics, identification, security. Product details Format Paperback | 754 pages ...

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Health Information Science, HIS 2016, held in Shanghai, China, in November 2016. The 13 full papers and 9 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The scope of the papers includes medical/health/biomedicine information resources such as patient medical records, devices and equipments, software and tools to capture, store, retrieve, process, analyze, and optimize the use of information in the health domain; data management, data mining, and knowledge discovery, all of which play a key role in decision making, management of public health, examination of standards, privacy and security issues; computer visualization and artificial intelligence for computer aided diagnosis; development of new architectures and applications for health information systems. Product details ...

This Springer Brief examines the combination of computer vision techniques and machine learning algorithms necessary for humanoid robots to develop "true consciousness." It illustrates the critical first step towards reaching "deep learning," long considered the holy grail for machine learning scientists worldwide. Using the example of the iCub, a humanoid robot which learns to solve 3D mazes, the book explores the challenges to create a robot that can perceive its own surroundings. Rather than relying solely on human programming, the robot uses physical touch to develop a neural map of its environment and learns to change the environment for its own benefit. These techniques allow the iCub to accurately solve any maze, if a solution exists, within a few iterations. With clear analysis of the iCub experiments and its results, this Springer Brief is ideal for advanced level students, researchers and professionals focused on computer vision, AI and machine learning. ...

This book provides an overview of multiscale approaches and homogenization procedures as well as damage evaluation and crack initiation, and addresses recent advances in the analysis and discretization of heterogeneous materials. It also highlights the state of the art in this research area with respect to different computational methods, software development and applications to engineering structures. The first part focuses on defects in composite materials including their numerical and experimental investigations; elastic as well as elastoplastic constitutive models are considered, where the modeling has been performed at macro- and micro levels. The second part is devoted to novel computational schemes applied on different scales and discusses the validation of numerical results. The third part discusses gradient enhanced modeling, in particular quasi-brittle and ductile damage, using the gradient enhanced approach. The final part addresses thermoplasticity, solid-liquid mixtures an...

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book examines the current state of elective placements of medical undergraduate students in developing countries and their impact on health care education at home. Drawing from a recent case study of volunteer deployment in Uganda, the authors provide an in-depth evaluation of the impacts on the students themselves and the learning outcomes associated with placements in low resource settings, as well as the impacts that these forms of student mobility have on the host settings. In addition to reviewing the existing literature on elective placements, the authors outline a potential model for the future development of ethical elective placements. As the book concurs with an increasing international demand for elective placements, it will be of immediate interest to universities, intermediary organizations, students as consumers, and hosting organisations in low-resource settings. Product detail...

This book provides an overview of multiscale approaches and homogenization procedures as well as damage evaluation and crack initiation, and addresses recent advances in the analysis and discretization of heterogeneous materials. It also highlights the state of the art in this research area with respect to different computational methods, software development and applications to engineering structures. The first part focuses on defects in composite materials including their numerical and experimental investigations; elastic as well as elastoplastic constitutive models are considered, where the modeling has been performed at macro- and micro levels. The second part is devoted to novel computational schemes applied on different scales and discusses the validation of numerical results. The third part discusses gradient enhanced modeling, in particular quasi-brittle and ductile damage, using the gradient enhanced approach. The final part addresses thermoplasticity, solid-liquid mixtures an...

This book presents the most recent advances in the research and applications of reconfigurable mechanisms and robots. It collects 93 independently reviewed papers presented at the Third ASME/IFToMM International Conference on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots (ReMAR 2015) held in Beijing, China, 20-22 July 2015. The conference papers are organized into seven parts to cover the reconfiguration theory, topology, kinematics and design of reconfigurable mechanisms including reconfigurable parallel mechanisms. The most recent results on reconfigurable robots are presented including their analysis, design, simulation and control. Bio-inspired mechanisms are also explored in the challenging fields of rehabilitation and minimally invasive surgery. This book further addresses deployable mechanisms and origami-inspired mechanisms and showcases a wide range of successful applications of reconfigurable mechanisms and robots. Advances in Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots II should be of inter...

This book elucidates the ways the pained and suffering body has been registered and mobilized in specifically Irish contexts across more than four hundred years of literature and culture. There is no singular approach to what pain means: the material addressed in this collection covers diverse cultural forms, from reports of battles and executions to stage and screen representations of sexual violence, produced in response to different historical circumstances in terms that confirm our understanding of how pain - whether endured or inflicted, witnessed or remediated - is culturally coded. Pain is as open to ongoing redefinition as the Ireland that features in all of the essays gathered here. This collection offers new paradigms for understanding Ireland's literary and cultural history. Product details Format ...

In coming to terms with the still smoldering financial crisis, little attention has been paid to the flaws within our monetary system and how these flaws lie at the root of the crisis. This book provides an introduction and critical assessment of the current monetary system. It begins with an up to date account of the workings of today's system of state-backed `bankmoney', illustrating the various forms and issuers of money, and discussing money theory and fallacy past and present. It also looks at related economic challenges such as inflation and deflation, asset inflation and bubble building that lead to market instability and examines the ineffectual monetary policies and primary credit markets that are failing to reach some sort of self-limiting equilibrium. In order to fix our financial system, we first need to understand its limitations and the flaws in current monetary and regulatory policy and then correct them. The concluding part of this book is dedicated to the la...

This text is designed to present a comprehensive overview of the evolution, oncologic safety, surgical approaches and outcomes of NSM. The book is targeted at general surgeons, dedicated breast surgeons, and plastic surgeons. There is focus for surgeons just beginning their use of NSM, as well as a review of patient selection criteria, operative approaches, reconstruction options, and management of complications. Chapters are written by experts in the performance and reconstruction of NSM. Chapters are supplemented with appropriate illustrations and photos of NSM techniques and reconstructions. Operative Approaches to Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy: Indications, Techniques, & Outcomes will become a valuable resource for surgeons, including those in-training, who have a focus on state-of-the-art breast cancer surgery. Product details Format ...

This practical text provides a clinical overview of the etiology, diagnosis and treatment for fibromyalgia. Current evidence-based treatments and guidelines are emphasized along with lifestyle modification suggestions for the patient. Also included is a review of current literature, research and emerging developments on this prevalent pain syndrome. A range of healthcare specialties, including pain management, rheumatology, neurology, internal medicine and family practice, will find this comprehensive guide to be a valuable resource to their routine treatment of fibromyalgia and improve patient's quality of life. Product details Format Paperback | 193 pages Dime...

This book continues the tradition of its predecessors "Automation, Communication and Cybernetics in Science and Engineering 2009/2010 and 2011/2012" and includes a representative selection of scientific publications from researchers at the institute cluster IMA/ZLW & IfU. IMA - Institute of Information Management in Mechanical Engineering ZLW - Center for Learning and Knowledge Management IfU - Associated Institute for Management Cybernetics e.V. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University The book presents a range of innovative fields of application, including: cognitive systems, cyber-physical production systems, robotics, automation technology, machine learning, natural language processing, data mining, predictive data analytics, visual analytics, innovation and diversity management, demographic models, virtual and remote laboratories, virtual and augmented realities, multimedia learning environments, organizational development and management cybernetics....

This complete introduction to plasma physics and controlled fusion by one of the pioneering scientists in this expanding field offers both a simple and intuitive discussion of the basic concepts of this subject and an insight into the challenging problems of current research. In a wholly lucid manner the work covers single-particle motions, fluid equations for plasmas, wave motions, diffusion and resistivity, Landau damping, plasma instabilities and nonlinear problems. For students, this outstanding text offers a painless introduction to this important field; for teachers, a large collection of problems; and for researchers, a concise review of the fundamentals as well as original treatments of a number of topics never before explained so clearly. This revised edition contains new material on kinetic effects, including Bernstein waves and the plasma dispersion function, and on nonlinear wave equations and solitons. For the third edition, updates was made throughout each existing chapte...

In this book the author develops a new approach to uncertainty in economics, which calls for a fundamental change in the methodology of economics. It provides a comprehensive overview and critical appraisal of the economic theory of uncertainty and shows that uncertainty was originally conceptualized both as an epistemic and an ontological problem. As a result of the economic professions' attempt to become acknowledged as a science, the more problematic aspect of ontological uncertainty has been neglected and the subjective probability approach to uncertainty became dominant in economic theory. A careful analysis of ontological theories of uncertainty explains the blindness of modern economics to economic phenomena such as instability, slumps or excessive booms. Based on these findings the author develops a new approach that legitimizes a New Uncertainty Paradigm in economics. Product details ...

This brief reviews concepts of inter-relationship in modern industrial processes, biological and social systems. Specifically ideas of connectivity and causality within and between elements of a complex system are treated; these ideas are of great importance in analysing and influencing mechanisms, structural properties and their dynamic behaviour, especially for fault diagnosis and hazard analysis. Fault detection and isolation for industrial processes being concerned with root causes and fault propagation, the brief shows that, process connectivity and causality information can be captured in two ways: * from process knowledge: structural modeling based on first-principles structural models can be merged with adjacency/reachability matrices or topology models obtained from process flow-sheets described in standard formats; and * from process data: cross-correlation analysis, Granger causality and its extensions, frequency domain methods, information-theoretical methods, and Bayesian ...

This textbook integrates the classic fields of mechanics-statics, dynamics, and strength of materials-using examples from biology and medicine. The book is excellent for teaching either undergraduates in biomedical engineering programs or health care professionals studying biomechanics at the graduate level. Extensively revised from a successful third edition, Fundamentals of Biomechanics features a wealth of clear illustrations, numerous worked examples, and many problem sets. The book provides the quantitative perspective missing from more descriptive texts, without requiring an advanced background in mathematics. It will be welcomed for use in courses such as biomechanics and orthopedics, rehabilitation and industrial engineering, and occupational or sports medicine. This book: Introduces the fundamental concepts, principles, and methods that must be understood to begin the study of biomechanics Reinforces basic principles of biomechanics with repetitive exercises in class and homew...

This classic textbook on experimental physics, written by Robert W. Pohl to accompany his famous lecture courses, served generations of physics and other science majors, not only in his native Germany, and was for many years a standard textbook. Pohl's lucid and memorable style and his consistent use of vivid demonstration experiments made his textbooks unique in their time. This completely revised and updated modern edition retains his style and clarity in an up-to-date format. The accompanying videos document the original demonstrations and add many modern touches, bringing to life the numerous illustrations in the book and providing an instructive and motivating complement to the text. They are linked to the corresponding topics in the text and can be accessed directly online from the e-book version. Volume I covers elementary mechanics, acoustics (vibrations and waves) and thermodynamics.The exercises provide an aid to understanding the material as well as complementary informa...

Historically, nursing, in all of its missions of research/scholarship, education and practice, has not had access to large patient databases. Nursing consequently adopted qualitative methodologies with small sample sizes, clinical trials and lab research. Historically, large data methods were limited to traditional biostatical analyses. In the United States, large payer data has been amassed and structures/organizations have been created to welcome scientists to explore these large data to advance knowledge discovery. Health systems electronic health records (EHRs) have now matured to generate massive databases with longitudinal trending. This text reflects how the learning health system infrastructure is maturing, and being advanced by health information exchanges (HIEs) with multiple organizations blending their data, or enabling distributed computing. It educates the readers on the evolution of knowledge discovery methods that span qualitative as well as quantitative data mining, in...

This is the first book to introduce UUDN for 5G, including the concept, challenges, architecture and key technologies. The new network architecture based on "de-cellular" and "user-centric" is proposed with three kinds of decoupling: user plane and control plane decoupling from radio access, control and transmission decoupling from network, local service and network service decoupling. Key characteristics of UUDN are provided, including four aspects: Intelligent network knows user, Moving network follows user, Dynamic network serves user, and Secured network protects user. Four promising technology directions are discussed in detail, including dynamic APs grouping (DAPGing) method, intelligent networking, advanced interference management and user-centric security. The authors also include a UUDN solution, illustrated with numerology and evaluation results as a practical example. Finally, further research directions of UUDN are analyzed. This book gives an overall in...