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Academic Press

Nature's Machines
An Introduction to Organismal Biomechanics
1st Edition
David E. Alexander
English
Nature’s Machines: An Introduction to Organismal Biomechanics presents the fundamental principles of biomechanics in a concise, accessible way while maintaining necessary rigor. It covers the central principles of whole-organism biomechanics as they apply across the animal and plant kingdoms, featuring brief, tightly-focused coverage that does for biologists what H. M. Frost’s 1967 Introduction to Biomechanics did for physicians. Frequently encountered, basic concepts such as stress and strain, Young’s modulus, force coefficients, viscosity, and Reynolds number are introduced in early chapters in a self-contained format, making them quickly available for learning and as a refresher. More sophisticated, integrative concepts such as viscoelasticity or properties of hydrostats are covered in the later chapters, where they draw on information from multiple earlier sections of the book. Animal and plant biomechanics is now a common research area widely acknowledged by organismal biologists to have broad relevance. Most of the day-to-day activities of an animal involve mechanical processes, and to the extent that organisms are shaped by adaptive evolution, many of those adaptations are constrained and channelized by mechanical properties. The similarity in body shape of a porpoise and a tuna is no coincidence. Many may feel that they have an intuitive understanding of many of the mechanical processes that affect animals and plants, but careful biomechanical analyses often yield counterintuitive results: soft, squishy kelp may be better at withstanding pounding waves during storms than hard-shelled mollusks; really small swimmers might benefit from being spherical rather than streamlined; our bones can operate without breaking for decades, whereas steel surgical implants exhibit fatigue failures in a few months if not fully supported by bone.
Adaptive Mobile Computing
Advances in Processing Mobile Data Sets
1st Edition
Mauro Migliardi + 2 more
English
Adaptive Mobile Computing: Advances in Processing Mobile Data Sets explores the latest advancements in producing, processing and securing mobile data sets. The book provides the elements needed to deepen understanding of this trend which, over the last decade, has seen exponential growth in the number and capabilities of mobile devices. The pervasiveness, sensing capabilities and computational power of mobile devices have turned them into a fundamental instrument in everyday life for a large part of the human population. This fact makes mobile devices an incredibly rich source of data about the dynamics of human behavior, a pervasive wireless sensors network with substantial computational power and an extremely appealing target for a new generation of threats.
Vital Models
The Making and Use of Models in the Brain Sciences
1st Edition
Volume 233
English
The use of models has been important to the historical and contemporary study of the human brain, yet very little study by social scientists has been dedicated to how the brain sciences develop and use models to better understand what brains are and how they work, including the complex entanglements between brains, bodies and their environments. Vital Models: The Making and Use of Models in the Brain Sciences explores the history and use of brain models from clinical psychiatry to psychopharmacology and cybernetics, as well as developments in digital brain modeling, simulation, imaging and connectomics. This timely volume helps both scientists and students better understand the variety, strengths, weaknesses and applicability of models in neuroscience.
Up and Running with AutoCAD 2018
2D Drafting and Design
1st Edition
Elliot J. Gindis + 1 more
English
Up and Running with AutoCAD 2018: 2D Drafting and Design provides a combination of step-by-step instruction, examples and insightful explanations on the topic. It emphasizes core concepts and practical application of AutoCAD in engineering, architecture and design. Equally useful in instructor-led classroom training, self-study, or as a professional reference, the book is written by a long-time AutoCAD professional and instructor who presents topics that work in the industry and classroom. The book has been pared down to focus on 2D drafting and design, making it appropriate for a one-semester course.
Neurobiology of Chinese Herb Medicine
1st Edition
Volume 135
English
Neurobiology of Chinese Herb Medicine, Volume 135 is a valuable book for anyone interested in alternative medicine or the scientific research surrounding ancient herbal medicine. This updated volume in the series includes chapters that delve into timely topics, including the Effects of Lycium Barbarum on the Visual System, the Effect of Chinese Herbal Medicine on Alzheimer’s Disease, the Effect and Mechanism of Chinese Herbal Medicine on Parkinson’s Disease, the Neurobiology of Chinese Herbal Medicine on Major Depressive Disorder, the Treatment of Insomnia with Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine, and the Metabolic Factors and Adult Neurogenesis: Impacts of Chinese Herbal Medicine on Brain Repair in Neurological Diseases. This series is ideal for Chinese herbal medicine practitioners who are working in a clinical environment, although the clinical applications of Chinese medicinal herbs presented provide useful references and guidance for any clinical practice that specializes in the treatment of various conditions.
Modeling and Optimization of Biomass Supply Chains
Top-Down and Bottom-up Assessment for Agricultural, Forest and Waste Feedstock
1st Edition
Calliope Panoutsou
English
Modeling and Optimization of Biomass Supply Chains: Top Down and Bottom Up Assessment for Agricultural, Forest and Waste Feedstock provides scientific evidence for assessing biomass supply and logistics, placing emphasis on methods, modeling capacities, large data collection, processing and storage. The information presented builds on recent relevant research work from the Biomass Futures, Biomass Policies and S2Biom projects. In addition to technical issues, the book covers the economic, social and environmental aspects with direct implications on biomass availability. Its chapters offer an overview of methodologies for assessing and modeling supply, biomass quality and requirements for different conversion processes, logistics and demand for biobased sectors. Case studies from the projects that inspire the book present practical examples of the implementation of these methodologies. The authors also compare methodologies for different regions, including Europe and the U.S. Biomass feedstock-specific chapters address the relevant elements for forest, agriculture, biowastes, post-consumer wood and non-food crops. Engineers in the bioenergy sector, as well as researchers and graduate students will find this book to be a very useful resource when working on optimization and modeling of biomass supply chains. For energy policymakers, analysts and consultants, the book provides consistent and technically sound projections for policy and market development decisions.
Soil Nematodes of Grasslands in Northern China
1st Edition
Qi Li + 3 more
English
Soil Nematodes of Grasslands in Northern China presents research on China’s temperate grasslands, providing the findings and results of a large field survey along a transect across the northern temperate grassland. It examines nematode distribution patterns along the transect from trophic group and family, to genus level, also evaluating their relationship with climatic conditions, plant biomass and soil parameters. The book then presents detailed taxonomy information of nematodes to genus or species level, providing keen insights into nematode diversity along the grassland transect in north China. Final sections review the advances and perspectives for the research of soil ecology on soil nematodes in China, including recent major discoveries of soil microbial diversity and eco-function during this field survey. This work will help researchers predict the impact of global change drivers on below ground soil biota and better understand the functioning and services they provide in terrestrial ecosystems.
RNA Methodologies
Laboratory Guide for Isolation and Characterization
5th Edition
Robert E. Farrell Jr.
English
RNA Methodologies, Fifth Edition continues its tradition of excellence in providing the most up-to-date ribonucleic acid lab techniques for seasoned scientists and graduate students alike. This edition features new material on the exploding field of microRNA as well as the methods for the profiling of gene expression, both which have changed considerably in recent years. As a leader in the field, Dr. Farrell provides a wealth of knowledge on the topic of RNA while also giving readers helpful hints from his own personal experience in this subject area. Beginning with the most contemporary, RNA Methodologies, Fifth Edition, presents the essential techniques to use when working with RNA for the experienced practitioner while at the same time providing images and examples to aid the beginner in fully understanding this important branch of molecular biology. The next generation of scientists can look to this work as a guide for ensuring high productivity and highly representative data, as well as best practices in troubleshooting laboratory problems when they arise.
Inference for Heavy-Tailed Data
Applications in Insurance and Finance
1st Edition
Liang Peng + 1 more
English
Heavy tailed data appears frequently in social science, internet traffic, insurance and finance. Statistical inference has been studied for many years, which includes recent bias-reduction estimation for tail index and high quantiles with applications in risk management, empirical likelihood based interval estimation for tail index and high quantiles, hypothesis tests for heavy tails, the choice of sample fraction in tail index and high quantile inference. These results for independent data, dependent data, linear time series and nonlinear time series are scattered in different statistics journals. Inference for Heavy-Tailed Data Analysis puts these methods into a single place with a clear picture on learning and using these techniques.
Gnotobiotics
1st Edition
Trenton R Schoeb + 1 more
English
Gnotobiotics summarizes and analyzes the research conducted on the use of gnotobiotes, providing detailed information regarding actual facility operation and derivation of gnotobiotic animals. In response to the development of new tools for microbiota and microbiome analysis, the increasing recognition of the various roles of microbiota in health and disease, and the consequent expanding demand for gnotobiotic animals for microbiota/microbiom... related research, this volume collates the research of this expanding field into one definitive resource.

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