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Elsevier

Elsevier Science

  • Linear Ray and Wave Optics in Phase Space

    Bridging Ray and Wave Optics via the Wigner Phase-Space Picture
    • 1st Edition
    • Amalia Torre
    • English
    Ray, wave and quantum concepts are central to diverse and seemingly incompatible models of light. Each model particularizes a specific ''manifestation'' of light, and then corresponds to adequate physical assumptions and formal approximations, whose domains of applicability are well-established. Accordingly each model comprises its own set of geometric and dynamic postulates with the pertinent mathematical means.At a basic level, the book is a complete introduction to the Wigner optics, which bridges between ray and wave optics, offering the optical phase space as the ambience and the Wigner function based technique as the mathematical machinery to accommodate between the two opposite extremes of light representation: the localized ray of geometrical optics and the unlocalized wave function of wave optics.At a parallel level, the analogies with other branches of both classical and quantum physics, like classical and quantum mechanics, quantum optics, signal theory as well as magnetic optics, are evidenced by pertinent comments and/or rigorous mathematics. So, the Lie algebra and group methods are introduced and explained through the elementary optical systems within both the ray and wave optics contexts, the former being related to the symplectic group and the latter to the metaplectic group. In a like manner, the Wigner function is introduced by following the original issue to individualize a phase space representation of quantum mechanics, which is mirrored by the issue to individualize a local frequency spectrum within the signal theory context. The basic analogy with the optics of charged particles inherently underlying the ray-optics picture in phase space is also evidenced within the wave-optics picture in the Wigner phase space.

  • Neuroanatomy of the Oculomotor System

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 151
    • Jean A. Büttner-Ennever
    • English
    This volume in the Progress in Brain Research series features reviews on the functional neuroanatomy and connectivity of the brain areas involved in controlling eye movements. Oculomotor control of the eyes is now the subject of many research projects and advances in this field are relevant to understanding motor control in general.

  • Structural and Evolutionary Genomics

    Natural Selection in Genome Evolution
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 37
    • Giorgio Bernardi
    • English
    Structural genomics is the study of the DNA of living organisms. Evolutionary genomics is the study of the history of the genome. These subjects are closely interlinked. They are approached in this book using as a guideline the investigations carried out in the author's laboratory, relevant literature is critically reviewed and some general conclusions are presented. The author and his collaborators have studied a vast number of genomes, ranging from prokaryotes to human, using different approaches, including physical chemistry of DNA, viral integration and molecular cytogenetics. As the subtitle indicates the book discusses the fundamental importance of natural selection in shaping genomes. In terms of numbers, neutral and nearly neutral mutations represent most mutations, but a "regional" control is exerted by natural selection (essentially negative or purifying selection). A "neo-selectionist" model is proposed for genome evolution.

  • Jeff's View

    on Science and Scientists
    • 1st Edition
    • Gottfried Schatz
    • English
    Jeff’s Views provide witty, insightful, and thought-provoking looks into the life of a modern scientist. From starting off to letting go, Gottfried (“Jeff”) Schatz leads us through the trials and triumphs of scientific life. With his tongue firmly in his cheek, and his humour always intact, the Austrian essayist leads us through the confusing and seemingly insurmountable hill that is the career path of European scientists. In addition to giving useful insights into how to get funding, give seminars, and still find time to make that leading edge scientific discovery, Jeff explores the philosophical dimensions of recent biological breakthroughs such as the sequencing of the human genome, the evolution of sensory receptors, and cellular suicide. Gottfried Schatz is one of the world’s leading scientists in the field of bioenergetics and mitochondria biology. Born in a small Austrian village, he started his scientific career at the University of Graz, and ended it as President of the Swiss Science and Technology Council. With stints as a violinist in Austrian opera houses, professorships in the USA and Switzerland, and numerous prestigious awards along the way, Jeff is a true European, whose unique, and often controversial, viewpoints are appreciated by scientists and politicians alike. These essays look at science from a very personal angle – often critical, sometimes sad, but always with excitement, wonder, and admiration. It is hoped that they will make you look at science with a slightly different view.

  • Identification and Quantification of Drugs, Metabolites and Metabolizing Enzymes by LC-MS

    • 1st Edition
    • Swapan Chowdhury
    • English
    As new techniques of transferring from liquid to gas phase and measuring masses of drug molecules and metabolites become more prevalent, so do the technical challenges of putting these techniques into proper use, as well as the task of consolidating emerging applications. Identification and Quantification of Drugs, Metabolites and Metabolizing Enzymes by LC-MS, Volume 6 fills the gap in the lack of presently available literature by providing a critical review in the current use of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) in drug discovery and development. With chapters written by experts with a wide range of practical experience from the pharmaceutical industry, emphasis is placed on techniques and applications. The book also includes chapters on how to utilize LC-MS instrumentation for current drug metabolism problems. This book is intended for those beginning to use LC-MS for drug metabolism studies as well as for those considered advanced practitioners.

  • Maps and the Internet

    • 1st Edition
    • M.P. Peterson
    • English
    This book examines a new trend affecting cartography and geographic information science. Presenting the work of over 30 authors from 16 different countries, the book provides an overview of current research in the new area of Internet Cartography. Chapters deal with the growth of this form of map distribution, uses in education, privacy issues, and technical aspects from the point of view of the map provider - including Internet protocols such as XML and SVG. Many see the Internet as a revolution for cartography. Previously tied to the medium of paper and expensive large-format color print technology, maps had a limited distribution and use. The Internet made it possible to not only distribute maps to a much larger audience but also to incorporate interaction and animation in the display. Maps have also become timelier with some maps of traffic and weather being updated every few minutes. In addition, it is now possible to access maps from servers throughout the world. Finally, the Internet has made historic maps available for viewing to the public that were previously only available in map libraries with limited access.

  • Chemical Thermodynamics of Compounds and Complexes of U, Np, Pu, Am, Tc, Se, Ni and Zr With Selected Organic Ligands

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 9
    • English
    This volume is part of the series on "Chemical Thermodynamics", published under the aegis of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. It contains a critical review of the literature on thermodynamic data for compounds of complexes of oxalate, citrate, EDTA and iso-saccharinate with uranium, neptunium, plutonium, americium, technetium, selenium, nickel and zirconium. A review team, composed of five internationally recognized experts, has critically reviewed all the scientific literature containing chemical thermodynamic information for the above mentioned systems. The results of this critical review carried out following the Guidelines of the OECD NEA Thermochemical Database Project have been documented in the present volume, which contains tables of selected values for formation and reaction thermodynamical properties and an extensive bibliography.Contrib... by: Wolfgang Hummel (Chairman), Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland, Giorgio Anderegg, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Switzerland, Linfeng Rao, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S.A., Ignasi Puigdomènech, Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co. (SKB), Sweden, and Osamu Tochiyama, Tohoku University, Japan.

  • The Law and Ethics of the Pharmaceutical Industry

    • 1st Edition
    • M.N.G. Dukes
    • English
    As one of the most massive and successful business sectors, the pharmaceutical industry is a potent force for good in the community, yet its behaviour is frequently questioned: could it serve society at large better than it has done in the recent past? Its own internal ethics, both in business and science, may need a careful reappraisal, as may the extent to which the law - administrative, civil and criminal - succeeds in guiding (and where neccessary contraining) it. The rules of behavior that may be considered to apply to today's pharmaceutical industry have emerged over a very long period and the process goes on. Even the immensely detailed standards for quality, safety and efficacy laid down in drug law and regulation during the second half of the twentieth century have their limitations as tools for ensuring that the public interest is well served. In particular, national and regional regulatory agencies are heavily dependent on industrial data for their decision-making, their standards and competence vary, and even the existing network of agencies does not cover the entire world. What is more there are many areas of law and regulation affecting the industry, concerning for example the pricing of medicines, the conduct of clinical studies, the health protection of workers and concern for the environment. In some fields it is indeed hardly possible to maintain standards through regulation.Professor N.M. Graham Dukes, a physician and lawyer with long term experience in industrial research management, academic study and international drug policy, provides here a powerfully documented analysis into the way this industry thinks, acts, and is viewed, and examines the current trends pointing to change.

  • Sulfuric Acid Manufacture

    • 1st Edition
    • Matt King + 3 more
    • English
    More sulfuric acid is produced every year than any other chemical. It has a wide range of uses including phosphate fertilizer production, explosives, glue, wood preservatives, and lead-acid batteries. It is also a particularily corrosive and dangerous acid, with extreme environmental and health hazards if not manufactured, used, and regulated properly.Sulfuric Acid Manufacture: Analysis, Control and Optimization keeps the important topics of safety and regulation at the forefront as it overviews and analyzes the process of sulfuric acid manufacture.The first nine chapters focus on the chemical plant processes involved in industrial acidmaking, with considerable data input from the authors' industrial colleagues. The last 15 chapters are dedicated to the mathematical analysis of acidmaking.Both Authors bring years of hands-on knowledge and experience to the work, making it an exceptional reference for anyone involved in sulfuric acid research and/or manufacture.

  • Progress in Low Temperature Physics

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 15
    • English
    A number of interrelated areas of low temperature physics are brought together in this volume. The four topics are presented as separate chapters. First is the study of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism for defect formation following quench cooling of superfluid 3He and its relation to quantum field theory. Properties of heavy fermion materials are described next with special attention to the competition between magnetism and superconductivity. Some of the newest correlated electron systems are discussed and the arguments for possible unconventional nature of the superconducting order parameter are presented for these systems, including the novel coexistence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity. Highly polarized degenerate Fermi liquids are of substantial interest in many areas of physics. The most complete description of observations of thermodynamic and transport phenomena are reviewed here for the case of polarized liquid 3He obtained by rapid melting from a polarized solid and subsequent rapid refrigeration. Properties of the melting curve of 3He, and the related technique of melting curve thermometry are described in detail.

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