Food Insecurity and Public Health
This book provides an evidence-based discussion of the impacts of food insecurity on public health as well as interventions to mitigate these issues. In addition, it reviews the conceptual framework behind interactions of food insecurity and health. Chapters cover food security and food sovereignty, measuring food security, food insecurity as it
Renewable Energy Crash Course
This book is a concise reader-friendly introductory guide to understanding renewable energy technologies. By using simplified classroom-tested methods developed while teaching the subject to engineering students, the authors explain in simple language an otherwise complex subject in terms that enable readers to gain a rapid fundamental understanding of renewable energy, including basic principles, the different types, energy storage, grid integration, and economies. This powerful tutorial is a great resource for students, engineers, technicians, analysts, investors, and other busy professionals who need to quickly acquire a solid understanding of the science of renewable energy technology.
System Efficiency by Renewable Electricity
In this book, a more detailed analysis is performed on the basis of quarter-hourly time series of the supply of wind energy and photovoltaics. The end use including electromobility is also presented with more detailed time series of the load profiles for summer and winter and thereby for weekdays and weekends in each case. The subsequent analysis clarifies whether the renewable potentials are sufficient, what the optimal generation scenarios and infrastructures of the future could look like, and what the situation is with regard to affordability and environmental compatibility.
Mechanobiology of Fracture Healing
This book offers a summary of research on the biomechanics of fracture fixation and mechanobiology of fracture healing. The author, a known expert, provides an overview of the state of art, his own research together with that of his co-workers and collaborators; he describes the ideas and findings from the beginning of this research field in the 1960s up to the clinical consequences and applications of today. The book discusses the mechanobiology of fracture healing, illustrates the numerical methods that simulate fracture healing processes, and depicts specific research methods of experimental studies. Finally, it provides conclusions for the improvement of fracture treatment that will be of use in clinical applications nowadays. This book will be a valuable resource of knowledge for students and scientists in the field of bioengineering, experimental biology, and biomechanics, helping them to identify the correct conditions and analysis for their respectiveresearch and receive an understanding of the research field from its beginning until today. For experimental and clinical surgeons active in the field of fracture healing, this book will provide a useful historical overview over this translational research field.
Chemical Changes in Food during Processing
This volume results from the Eighth Basic Symposium held by the Institute of Food Technologists in Anaheim, California on June 8-9, 1984. The theme of the symposium was "Chemical Changes in Food during Processing." The speakers included a mix of individuals from academic institu- tions, governmental agencies, and the food industry. Twenty speakers discussed topics ranging from the basic chemistry relating to food constituents to the more applied aspects of chemical changes in food components during food processing. It was the intent of the organizers to bring together a group of speakers who could address the chemistry of changes in food compo- nents during processing from a mechanistic point of view. As a con- sequence, the proceedings of this symposium emphasize the basic chemistry of changes in food constituents from a generic perspective which is intended to provide the reader with a background to address more specific problems that may arise.
Cybernetics 2.0
This book takes the notions of adaptivity and learning from the realm of engineering into the realm of biology and natural processes. It introduces a Hebbian-LMS algorithm, an integration of unsupervised Hebbian learning and supervised LMS learning in neural networks, as a mathematical representation of a general theory for synaptic learning in the brain, and adaptation and functional control of homeostasis in living systems. Written in a language that is able to address students and scientists with different backgrounds, this book accompanies readers on a unique journey through various homeostatic processes in living organisms, such as body temperature control and synaptic plasticity, explaining how the Hebbian-LMS algorithm can help understand them, and suggesting some open questions for future research. It also analyses cell signalling pathways from an unusual perspective, where hormones and hormone receptors are shown to be regulated via the principles of the Hebbian-LMS algorithm. It further discusses addiction and pain, and various kinds of mood disorders alike, showing how they can be modelled with the Hebbian-LMS algorithm. For the first time, the Hebbian-LMS algorithm, which has been derived from a combination of Hebbian theory from the neuroscience field and the LMS algorithm from the engineering field of adaptive signal processing, becomes a potent model for understanding how biological regulation works. Thus, this book is breaking new ground in neuroscience by providing scientists with a general theory for how nature does control synaptic learning. It then goes beyond that, showing that the same principles apply to hormone-mediated regulation of physiological processes. In turn, the book tackles in more depth the concept of learning. It covers computer simulations and strategies for training neural networks with the Hebbian-LMS algorithm, demonstrating that the resulting algorithms are able to identify relationships between unknown input patterns. It shows how this can translate in useful ideas to understand human memory and design cognitive structures. All in all, this book offers an absolutely, unique, inspiring reading for biologists, physiologists, and engineers, paving the way for future studies on what we could call the nature's secret learning algorithm.
Aircraft Wheels, Brakes, and Brake Controls
Landing gear provides an intriguing and compelling challenge, combining many fields of science and engineering. Designed to guide the interested reader through the fundamentals aircraft wheel, brake and brake control design system, this book presents a specific element of landing gear design in an accessible way. The author's two volume treatise, The Design of Aircraft Landing, was the inspiration for this book. The Design of Aircraft Landing is a landmark work for the industry and utilizes over 1,000 pages to present a complete, in-depth study of each component that must considered when designing an aircraft's landing gear. While recognizing that not everyone may need the entire treatise, Aircraft Wheels, Brakes, and Brake Controls: Key Principles for Landing Gear Design is one of three quick reference guides focusing on one key element of aircraft design and landing gear design. This volume features an overview of brakes, aircraft deceleration, brake sizing, brake design, braking accessories, wheels, brake control as well as brake issues and concerns. R. Kyle Schmidt has over 25 years' experience across three countries and has held a variety of variety of engineering roles relating to the development of new landing gears and the sustainment of existing landing gears in service.
Airfield Compatibility
Landing gear provides an intriguing and compelling challenge, combining many fields of science and engineering. Designed to guide the interested reader through the key principles of aircra竅ft compatibility with the ground and ground infrastructure (airfields, heliports, etc.), this book presents a specific element of landing gear design in an accessible way. The author's two volume treatise, The Design of Aircraft Landing, was the inspiration for this book. The Design of Aircraft Landing is a landmark work for the industry and utilizes over 1,000 pages to present a complete, in-depth study of each component that must considered when designing an aircraft's landing gear. While recognizing that not everyone may need the entire treatise, Airfield Compatibility: Key Principles for Landing Gear Design is one of three quick reference guides focusing on one key element of aircraft design and landing gear design. This volume centers on how to ensure that the aircraft is compatible with the ground surfaces that it will encounter in use. R. Kyle Schmidt has over 25 years' experience across three countries and has held a variety of variety of engineering roles relating to the development of new landing gears and the sustainment of existing landing gears in service.
Understanding Biochemical Pathways
Understanding Biochemical Pathways: A Pattern-Recognition Approach provides students with a clear methodology for understanding metabolic processes, with an emphasis on human metabolic processes. It focuses on specific pathways of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism that illustrate how to apply this pattern-recognition approach.This text presents a "basic recipe" of metabolism to illustrate the general sequence of reactions that are carried out in biochemical pathways to move from one oxidation state of carbon to another. The goal is to give the reader the ability to look at a reaction and determine the type of reaction based on the differences in reactants and products, identify the type of enzyme that would catalyze the reaction, and then name the enzyme based on enzyme naming rules.The second edition features new Check Your Knowledge boxes and content summaries within each chapter. The text also features new content in Chapter 2 on the pawn shop model of metabolism to explain relationships between prominent metabolic pathways.Understanding Biochemical Pathways is an excellent resource for courses and programs in biochemistry, nutrition, medicine, and nursing.
Water for Life
This supplementary text highlights the uses and importance of water in life: water resources, chemistry of water, drinking water, and the links between water and health, food, irrigation, soil, energy, transport, industry, recreation, disasters, and conflicts. Supports students in civil engineering, geography, and social sciences.
Theory and Practice of Tunnel Engineering
Tunnel construction is expensive when compared to the construction of other engineering structures. As such, there is always the need to develop more sophisticated and effective methods of construction. There are many long and large tunnels with various purposes in the world, especially for highways, railways, water conveyance, and energy production. Tunnels can be designed effectively by means of two and three-dimensional numerical models. Ground-structure interaction is one of the significant factors acting on economic and safe design. This book presents recent data on tunnel engineering to improve the theory and practice of the construction of underground structures. It provides an overview of tunneling technology and includes chapters that address analytical and numerical methods for rock load estimation and design support systems and advances in measurement systems for underground structures. The book discusses the empirical, analytical, and numerical methods of tunneling practice worldwide.
Electric Vehicle Integration Via Smart Charging
This book brings together important new contributions covering electric vehicle smart charging (EVSC) from a multidisciplinary group of global experts, providing a comprehensive look at EVSC and its role in meeting long-term goals for decarbonization of electricity generation and transportation. This multidisciplinary reference presents practical aspects and approaches to the technology, along with evidence from its applications to real-world energy systems. Electric Vehicle Integration via Smart Charging is suitable for practitioners and industry stakeholders working on EVSC, as well as researchers and developers from different branches of engineering, energy, transportation, economic, and operation research fields.
Automobile Biographies; An Account of the Lives and the Work of Those Who Have Been Identified with the Invention and Development of Self-Propelled Vehicles on the Common Roads
This book "" Automobile Biographies; An Account of the Lives and the Work of Those Who Have Been Identified with the Invention and Development of Self-Propelled Vehicles on the Common Roads "" has been considered important throughout the human history. It has been out of print for decades.So that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.
Aviation Book
This book "" Aviation Book "" has been considered important throughout the human history. It has been out of print for decades.So that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.
Aviation in Peace and War
This book "" Aviation in Peace and War "" has been considered important throughout the human history. It has been out of print for decades.So that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.
Exosomes and Micrornas in Biomedical Science
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a member of the family of non-coding RNA molecules, and consist of small conserved sequences between 19-25 nucleotides in length that are responsible for regulating many cellular functions by affecting a wide range of messenger RNAs in a sequence specific manner. Fundamental biological processes like cell proliferation and growth, stress resistance, tumorigenesis, fat metabolism, and neural development have all been shown to be governed by miRNAs. miRNAs carry out the post-transcriptional silencing of gene expression via targeting the 30-untranslated region (UTR) of the complementary mRNA sequence. The dysregulation of the expression levels of various miRNAs is typical of tumor cells, and has been associated with tumor progression and poor prognosis. Many miRNAs are up-regulated in cancer, where they can silence tumor suppressor genes such as apoptosis and immune response associated genes. Therefore, it is possible to profile the expression levels of miRNAs as biomarkers, in order to diagnose cancer and noncancerous diseases. Moreover, cancer detection in the early stages is crucial in clinical situations. Characterization of miRNAs in serum, plasma, and other bodily fluids, and understanding their stability against RNase degradation, is important to assess their suitability as biomarkers and diagnostic tools. Exosomes play an important role in inter-cellular communications, and these nanosized particles have various functions in diverse physiological pathways, in normal as well as abnormal cells. Exosomes can carry diverse cargos such as mRNAs, miRNAs, and proteins that transfer information between donor and recipient cells. Furthermore, uptake of exosomes and their cargos may promote or suppress various molecular and cellular pathways, which alter the cellular behavior. Many reports have discussed the role of exosomes released from cancer cells on the progression of cancer at various stages. Exosomes and their cargos may affect the growth ofthe tumor, metastasis, drug resistance, immune system function, as well as angiogenesis. Therefore, exosomes have been explored as diagnostic biomarkers in many cancers. Moreover, exosomes can be used as biological vehicles to deliver different drugs and agents like doxorubicin (DOX), miRNAs, and siRNAs. The present book covers the role of exosomes and micro-RNAs in the pathogenesis and treatment of various diseases.
The Curtiss Aviation Book
This book "" The Curtiss Aviation Book "" has been considered important throughout the human history. It has been out of print for decades.So that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.
Introduction to Graph Signal Processing
An intuitive and accessible text explaining the fundamentals and applications of graph signal processing. Requiring only an elementary understanding of linear algebra, it covers both basic and advanced topics, including node domain processing, graph signal frequency, sampling, and graph signal representations, as well as how to choose a graph. Understand the basic insights behind key concepts and learn how graphs can be associated to a range of specific applications across physical, biological and social networks, distributed sensor networks, image and video processing, and machine learning. With numerous exercises and Matlab examples to help put knowledge into practice, and a solutions manual available online for instructors, this unique text is essential reading for graduate and senior undergraduate students taking courses on graph signal processing, signal processing, information processing, and data analysis, as well as researchers and industry professionals.
Engineering Design
While more and more undergraduate engineering programs are moving toward a multi-disciplinary capstone experience, there remains a need for a suitable textbook. The present text seeks to meet that need by providing a student friendly step by step template for this important and culminating academic journey beginning with the student design team's first meeting with the client to the final report and presentation. The text provides a wide range of design tools, a discussion of various design methodologies, a brief history of modern engineering, and a substantive consideration of engineering ethics. In addition, chapters are included on communication, team building and dealing with the inevitable obstacles that students encounter. Throughout the text, emphasis is placed upon the issues of environmental impact and the importance of diversity.
Sustainable Desalination and Water Reuse
Over the past half century, reverse osmosis (RO) has grown from a nascent niche technology into the most versatile and effective desalination and advanced water treatment technology available. However, there remain certain challenges for improving the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of RO desalination plants in various applications. In low-pressure RO applications, both capital (CAPEX) and operating (OPEX) costs are largely influenced by product water recovery, which is typically limited by mineral scale formation. In seawater applications, recovery tends to be limited by the salinity limits on brine discharge and cost is dominated by energy demand. The combination of water scarcity and sustainability imperatives, in many locations, is driving system designs towards minimal and zero liquid discharge (M/ZLD) for inland brackish water, municipal and industrial wastewaters, and even seawater desalination. Herein, we review the basic principles of RO processes, the state-of-the-art for RO membranes, modules and system designs as well as methods for concentrating and treating brines to achieve MLD/ZLD, resource recovery and renewable energy powered desalination systems. Throughout, we provide examples of installations employing conventional and some novel approaches towards high recovery RO in a range of applications from brackish groundwater desalination to oil and gas produced water treatment and seawater desalination.
Wind Loading of Structures
This authoritative source for practising and academic sturctural engineers and graduate students ties the principles of wind loads on structures to meteorology, bluff-body aerodynamics, probability and statistics, and structural dynamics. It provides a broad view of codes and standards with information on global wind climates.
Transformative Teaching
The journey to becoming an exemplary engineering educator is one that is rarely simple and straightforward. Simply being exposed to active learning strategies or innovative pedagogies rarely leads to a transformation of one's own teaching. In this book, we present a collection of stories from exemplary engineering educators that are told in their own voices. These stories are shared to enable readers to immerse themselves in first-person recollections of transformation, involving engineering educators who changed their teaching strategies from the ways that they were taught as engineering undergraduate students to ways that more effectively fostered a conducive learning atmosphere for all students. It is our hope that providing stories of successful engineering educators might stimulate thoughtful and productive self-reflection on ways that we can each change our own teaching. These stories are not simple, linear stories of transformation. Instead, they highlight the complexities and nuances inherent to transforming the way that engineering faculty teach. Through our strategy of narrative storytelling, we hope to inspire future and current engineering educators to embark on their own journeys of teaching transformations. We conclude the book with some lessons that we learned during our readings of these stories, and invite readers to extract lessons of their own.
Understanding Atrial Fibrillation
The book presents recent advances in signal processing techniques for modeling, analysis, and understanding of the heart's electrical activity during atrial fibrillation. This arrhythmia is the most commonly encountered in clinical practice and its complex and metamorphic nature represents a challenging problem for clinicians, engineers, and scientists. Research on atrial fibrillation has stimulated the development of a wide range of signal processing tools to better understand the mechanisms ruling its initiation, maintenance, and termination. This book provides undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers and practicing engineers, with an overview of techniques, including time domain techniques for atrial wave extraction, time-frequency analysis for exploring wave dynamics, and nonlinear techniques to characterize the ventricular response and the organization of atrial activity. The book includes an introductory chapter about atrial fibrillation and its mechanisms, treatment, and management. The successive chapters are dedicated to the analysis of atrial signals recorded on the body surface and to the quantification of ventricular response. The rest of the book explores techniques to characterize endo- and epicardial recordings and to model atrial conduction. Under the appearance of being a monothematic book on atrial fibrillation, the reader will not only recognize common problems of biomedical signal processing but also discover that analysis of atrial fibrillation is a unique challenge for developing and testing novel signal processing tools. Table of Contents: Part I / Introduction to Atrial Fibrillation: From Mechanisms to Treatment / Time Domain Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation / Atrial Activity Extraction from the ECG / Time-Frequency Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation
Engineering the Knee Meniscus
The knee meniscus was once thought to be a vestigial tissue, but is now known to be instrumental in imparting stability, shock absorption, load transmission, and stress distribution within the knee joint. Unfortunately, most damage to the meniscus cannot be effectively healed by the body. Meniscus tissue engineering offers a possible solution to this problem by striving to create replacement tissue that may be implanted into a defect site. With a strong focus on structure-function relationships, this book details the essential anatomical, biochemical, and mechanical aspects of this versatile tissue and reviews current meniscus tissue engineering strategies and repair techniques. We have written this text such that undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers will find it useful as a first foray into tissue engineering, a cohesive study of the meniscus, or a reference for meniscus engineering specifications. Table of Contents: Structure-Function Relationships of the Knee Meniscus / Pathophysiology and the Need for Tissue Engineering / Tissue Engineering of the Knee Meniscus / Current Therapies and Future Directions
Introduction to Statistics for Biomedical Engineers
There are many books written about statistics, some brief, some detailed, some humorous, some colorful, and some quite dry. Each of these texts is designed for a specific audience. Too often, texts about statistics have been rather theoretical and intimidating for those not practicing statistical analysis on a routine basis. Thus, many engineers and scientists, who need to use statistics much more frequently than calculus or differential equations, lack sufficient knowledge of the use of statistics. The audience that is addressed in this text is the university-level biomedical engineering student who needs a bare-bones coverage of the most basic statistical analysis frequently used in biomedical engineering practice. The text introduces students to the essential vocabulary and basic concepts of probability and statistics that are required to perform the numerical summary and statistical analysis used in the biomedical field. This text is considered a starting point for important issuesto consider when designing experiments, summarizing data, assuming a probability model for the data, testing hypotheses, and drawing conclusions from sampled data. A student who has completed this text should have sufficient vocabulary to read more advanced texts on statistics and further their knowledge about additional numerical analyses that are used in the biomedical engineering field but are beyond the scope of this text. This book is designed to supplement an undergraduate-level course in applied statistics, specifically in biomedical engineering. Practicing engineers who have not had formal instruction in statistics may also use this text as a simple, brief introduction to statistics used in biomedical engineering. The emphasis is on the application of statistics, the assumptions made in applying the statistical tests, the limitations of these elementary statistical methods, and the errors often committed in using statistical analysis. A number of examples from biomedical engineering research and industry practice are provided to assist the reader in understanding concepts and application. It is beneficial for the reader to have some background in the life sciences and physiology and to be familiar with basic biomedical instrumentation used in the clinical environment. Contents: Introduction / Collecting Data and Experimental Design / Data Summary and Descriptive Statistics / Assuming a Probability Model from the Sample Data / Statistical Inference / Linear Regression and Correlation Analysis / Power Analysis and Sample Size / Just the Beginning / Bibliography
Articular Cartilage Tissue Engineering
Cartilage injuries in children and adolescents are increasingly observed, with roughly 20% of knee injuries in adolescents requiring surgery. In the US alone, costs of osteoarthritis (OA) are in excess of $65 billion per year (both medical costs and lost wages). Comorbidities are common with OA and are also costly to manage. Articular cartilage's low friction and high capacity to bear load makes it critical in the movement of one bone against another, and its lack of a sustained natural healing response has necessitated a plethora of therapies. Tissue engineering is an emerging technology at the threshold of translation to clinical use. Replacement cartilage can be constructed in the laboratory to recapitulate the functional requirements of native tissues. This book outlines the biomechanical and biochemical characteristics of articular cartilage in both normal and pathological states, through development and aging. It also provides a historical perspective of past and current cartilage treatments and previous tissue engineering efforts. Methods and standards for evaluating the function of engineered tissues are discussed, and current cartilage products are presented with an analysis on the United States Food and Drug Administration regulatory pathways that products must follow to market. This book was written to serve as a reference for researchers seeking to learn about articular cartilage, for undergraduate and graduate level courses, and as a compendium of articular cartilage tissue engineering design criteria. Table of Contents: Hyaline Articular Cartilage / Cartilage Aging and Pathology / In Vitro / Bioreactors / Future Directions
Acoustical Impulse Response Functions of Music Performance Halls
Digital measurement of the analog acoustical parameters of a music performance hall is difficult. The aim of such work is to create a digital acoustical derivation that is an accurate numerical representation of the complex analog characteristics of the hall. The present study describes the exponential sine sweep (ESS) measurement process in the derivation of an acoustical impulse response function (AIRF) of three music performance halls in Canada. It examines specific difficulties of the process, such as preventing the external effects of the measurement transducers from corrupting the derivation, and provides solutions, such as the use of filtering techniques in order to remove such unwanted effects. In addition, the book presents a novel method of numerical verification through mean-squared error (MSE) analysis in order to determine how accurately the derived AIRF represents the acoustical behavior of the actual hall.
Introduction to Biomedical Engineering
Intended as an introduction to the field of biomedical engineering, this book covers the topics of biomechanics (Part I) and bioelectricity (Part II). Each chapter emphasizes a fundamental principle or law, such as Darcy's Law, Poiseuille's Law, Hooke's Law, Starling's Law, levers, and work in the area of fluid, solid, and cardiovascular biomechanics. In addition, electrical laws and analysis tools are introduced, including Ohm's Law, Kirchhoff's Laws, Coulomb's Law, capacitors and the fluid/electrical analogy. Culminating the electrical portion are chapters covering Nernst and membrane potentials and Fourier transforms. Examples are solved throughout the book and problems with answers are given at the end of each chapter. A semester-long Major Project that models the human systemic cardiovascular system, utilizing both a Matlab numerical simulation and an electrical analog circuit, ties many of the book's concepts together. Table of Contents: Basic Concepts / Darcy's Law / Poiseuille's Law: Pressure-Driven Flow Through Tubes / Hooke's Law: Elasticity of Tissues and Compliant Vessels / Starling's Law of the Heart, Windkessel Elements and Volume / Euler's Method and First-Order Time Constants / Muscle, Leverage, Work, Energy and Power
Tremor
Tremor represents one of the most common movement disorders worldwide. It affects both sexes and may occur at any age. In most cases, tremor is disabling and causes social difficulties, resulting in poorer quality of life. Tremor is now recognized as a public health issue given the aging of the population. Tremor is a complex phenomenon that has attracted the attention of scientists from various disciplines. Tremor results from dynamic interactions between multiple synaptically coupled neuronal systems and the biomechanical, physical, and electrical properties of the external effectors. There have been major advances in our understanding of tremor pathogenesis these last three decades, thanks to new imaging techniques and genetic discoveries. Moreover, significant progress in computer technologies, developments of reliable and unobtrusive wearable sensors, improvements in miniaturization, and advances in signal processing have opened new perspectives for the accurate characterization and daily monitoring of tremor. New therapies are emerging. In this book, we provide an overview of tremor from pathogenesis to therapeutic aspects. We review the definitions, the classification of the varieties of tremor, and the contribution of central versus peripheral mechanisms. Neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, neurochemical, and pharmacological topics related to tremor are pointed out. Our goals are to explain the fundamental basis of tremor generation, to show the recent technological developments, especially in instrumentation, which are reshaping research and clinical practice, and to provide up-to-date information related to emerging therapies. The integrative transdisciplinary approach has been used, combining engineering and physiological principles to diagnose, monitor, and treat tremor. Guidelines for evaluation of tremor are explained. This book has been written for biomedical engineering students, engineers, researchers, medical students, biologists, neurologists, and biomedical professionals of any discipline looking for an updated and multidisciplinary overview of tremor. It can be used for biomedical courses. Table of Contents: Introduction / Anatomical Overview of the Central and Peripheral Nervous System / Physiology of the Nervous System / Characterization of Tremor / Prinipal Disorders Associated with Tremor / Quantification of Tremor / Mechanisms of Tremor / Treatments
Image and Signal Processing for Networked eHealth Applications
E-health is closely related with networks and telecommunications when dealing with applications of collecting or transferring medical data from distant locations for performing remote medical collaborations and diagnosis. In this book we provide an overview of the fields of image and signal processing for networked and distributed e-health applications and their supporting technologies. The book is structured in 10 chapters, starting the discussion from the lower end, that of acquisition and processing of biosignals and medical images and ending in complex virtual reality systems and techniques providing more intuitive interaction in a networked medical environment. The book also discusses networked clinical decision support systems and corresponding medical standards, WWW-based applications, medical collaborative platforms, wireless networking, and the concepts of ambient intelligence and pervasive computing in electronic healthcare systems.
Analysis and Design of Substrate Integrated Waveguide Using Efficient 2D Hybrid Method
Substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) is a new type of transmission line. It implements a waveguide on a piece of printed circuit board by emulating the side walls of the waveguide using two rows of metal posts. It inherits the merits both from the microstrip for compact size and easy integration, and from the waveguide for low radiation loss, and thus opens another door to design efficient microwave circuits and antennas at a low cost. This book presents a two-dimensional fullwave analysis method to investigate an SIW circuit composed of metal and dielectric posts. It combines the cylindrical eigenfunction expansion and the method of moments to avoid geometrical descritization of the posts. The method is presented step-by-step, with all the necessary formulations provided for a practitioner who wants to implement this method by himself. This book covers the SIW circuit printed on either homogeneous or inhomogeneous substrate, the microstrip-to-SIW transition and the speed-up techniquefor the simulation of symmetrical SIW circuits. Different types of SIW circuits are shown and simulated using the proposed method. In addition, several slot antennas and horn antennas fabricated using the SIW technology are also given. Table of Contents: Introduction / SIW Circuits Composed of Metallic Posts / SIW Circuits with Dielectric Posts / Even-Odd Mode Analysis of a Symmetrical Circuit / Microstrip to SIW Transition and Half Mode SIW / SIW Antennas
Advances in Waveform-Agile Sensing for Tracking
Recent advances in sensor technology and information processing afford a new flexibility in the design of waveforms for agile sensing. Sensors are now developed with the ability to dynamically choose their transmit or receive waveforms in order to optimize an objective cost function. This has exposed a new paradigm of significant performance improvements in active sensing: dynamic waveform adaptation to environment conditions, target structures, or information features. The manuscript provides a review of recent advances in waveform-agile sensing for target tracking applications. A dynamic waveform selection and configuration scheme is developed for two active sensors that track one or multiple mobile targets. A detailed description of two sequential Monte Carlo algorithms for agile tracking are presented, together with relevant Matlab code and simulation studies, to demonstrate the benefits of dynamic waveform adaptation. The work will be of interest not only to practitioners of radarand sonar, but also other applications where waveforms can be dynamically designed, such as communications and biosensing. Table of Contents: Waveform-Agile Target Tracking Application Formulation / Dynamic Waveform Selection with Application to Narrowband and Wideband Environments / Dynamic Waveform Selection for Tracking in Clutter / Conclusions / CRLB Evaluation for Gaussian Envelope GFM Chirp from the Ambiguity Function / CRLB Evaluation from the Complex Envelope
Theory and Applications of Gaussian Quadrature Methods
Gaussian quadrature is a powerful technique for numerical integration that falls under the broad category of spectral methods. The purpose of this work is to provide an introduction to the theory and practice of Gaussian quadrature. We study the approximation theory of trigonometric and orthogonal polynomials and related functions and examine the analytical framework of Gaussian quadrature. We discuss Gaussian quadrature for bandlimited functions, a topic inspired by some recent developments in the analysis of prolate spheroidal wave functions. Algorithms for the computation of the quadrature nodes and weights are described. Several applications of Gaussian quadrature are given, ranging from the evaluation of special functions to pseudospectral methods for solving differential equations. Software realization of select algorithms is provided. Table of Contents: Introduction / Approximating with Polynomials and Related Functions / Gaussian Quadrature / Applications / Links to Mathematical Software
Water-Train
In a government-aided research project carried out at Cochin University, the inventor of the Water-Train demonstrated that his invention requires only 24 BTU/ton-km of energy whereas barges use 328 BTU in the same Inland water transportation situation. The use of this Water-Train can invariably curtail, to a large extent, the emission of greenhouse gasses thereby decreasing the effect on global warming. Conventional water vehicles use screw propellers which have high reacting energy loss in propulsion whereas the Water-Train relies on the earth for reaction which is an infinite mass causing no reacting energy loss at all. The propelled water takes away a large quantity of kinetic energy (1/2��������2 where its mass is ���� and velocity is ����). Water-Train requires a monorail rigidly fixed to the earth through cross arms and pillars for applying the traction/propulsion force. The reacting body is the earth and so the traction efficiency tends toward 100%. It utilizes low friction of water and also the vehicles are connected serially like a locomotive and hence the wave making and skin resistances are also reduced. The NITIE study conducted earlier in India showed that diesel and electric trains use 166.3 BTU and 105.76 BTU, respectively, for the same purpose.
Engineers, Society, and Sustainability
Sustainable development is one of the key challenges of the twenty-first century. The engineering profession is central to achieving sustainable development. To date, engineering contributions to sustainability have focused on reducing the environmental impacts of development and improving the efficiency of resource use. This approach is consistent with dominant policy responses to environmental problems, which have been characterised as ecological modernisation. Ecological modernisation assumes that sustainability can be addressed by reforming modern society and developing environmental technologies. Environmental philosophers have questioned these assumptions and call into question the very nature of modern society as underlying the destruction of nature and the persistence of social inequality. Central to the crises of ecology and human development are patterns of domination and the separation of nature and culture. Engineering has a clear role to play in ecological modernisation, but its role in more radical visions of sustainability is uncertain. Actor-network theory provides an analysis of socio-technical systems which does not require the separation of nature and culture, and it provides a way of thinking about how engineers are involved in shaping society and its relationship to the environment. It describes the world in terms of relationships between human and non-human actors. It shows that social relationships are mediated by technologies and non-human nature, and that assumptions about society and behaviour are ""baked-in"" to technological systems. Modern infrastructure systems are particularly important in shaping society and have significant environmental impacts. Modern infrastructure has allowed the consumption of resources far beyond basic human needs in developed countries. Failure to deliver infrastructure services has resulted in billions of the world's poorest people missing out on the benefits of modern development. Engineers have an importantrole to play in developing new infrastructure systems which acknowledge the relationships between technology and society in shaping demand for resources and environmental impacts, as well as alleviating poverty. Engineers have an important role in mediating between the values of society, clients, the environment and the possibilities of technology. Constructive Technology Assessment and Value Sensitive Design are two methodologies which engineers are using to better account for the social and ethical implications of their work. Understanding engineering as a hybrid, socio-technical profession can help develop new ways of working that acknowledge the importance of technology and infrastructure in shaping social relationships that are central to achieving sustainability. Table of Contents: The Origins of Sustainability / Ecological Modernisation / Environmental Ethics / Society and Technology / Engineering Consumption / Sustainable Urban Water Systems / Engineering, Technology and Ethics / Conclusion
Computer Techniques for Dynamic Modeling of DC-DC Power Converters
Computers play an important role in the analyzing and designing of modern DC-DC power converters. This book shows how the widely used analysis techniques of averaging and linearization can be applied to DC-DC converters with the aid of computers. Obtained dynamical equations may then be used for control design. The book is composed of two chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on the extraction of control-to-output transfer function. A second-order converter (a buck converter) and a fourth-order converter (a Zeta converter) are studied as illustrative examples in this chapter. Both ready-to-use software packages, such as PLECS(R) and MATLAB(R) programming, are used throught this chapter. The input/output characteristics of DC-DC converters are the object of considerations in Chapter 2. Calculation of input/output impedance is done with the aid of MATLAB(R) programming in this chapter. The buck, buck-boost, and boost converter are the most popular types of DC-DC converters and used as illustrative examples in this chapter. This book can be a good reference for researchers involved in DC-DC converters dynamics and control.
Tissue Engineering of Temporomandibular Joint Cartilage
The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a site of intense morbidity for millions of people, especially young, pre-menopausal women. Central to TMJ afflictions are the cartilaginous tissues of the TMJ, especially those of the disc and condylar cartilage, which play crucial roles in normal function of this unusual joint. Damage or disease to these tissues significantly impacts a patient's quality of life by making common activities such as talking and eating difficult and painful. Unfortunately, these tissues have limited ability to heal, necessitating the development of treatments for repair or replacement. The burgeoning field of tissue engineering holds promise that replacement tissues can be constructed in the laboratory to recapitulate the functional requirements of native tissues. This book outlines the biomechanical, biochemical, and anatomical characteristics of the disc and condylar cartilage, and also provides a historical perspective of past and current TMJ treatments and previous tissue engineering efforts. This book was written to serve as a reference for researchers seeking to learn about the TMJ, for undergraduate and graduate level courses, and as a compendium of TMJ tissue engineering design criteria. Table of Contents: The Temporomandibular Joint / Fibrocartilage of the TMJ Disc / Cartilage of the Mandibular Condyle / Tissue Engineering of the Disc / Tissue Engineering of the Mandibular Condyle / Current Perspectives
Modeling Bipolar Power Semiconductor Devices
This book presents physics-based models of bipolar power semiconductor devices and their implementation in MATLAB and Simulink. The devices are subdivided into different regions, and the operation in each region, along with the interactions at the interfaces which are analyzed using basic semiconductor physics equations that govern their behavior. The Fourier series solution is used to solve the ambipolar diffusion equation in the lightly doped drift region of the devices. In addition to the external electrical characteristics, internal physical and electrical information, such as the junction voltages and the carrier distribution in different regions of the device, can be obtained using the models.
Bacterial Sensors
Bacterial reporters are live, genetically engineered cells with promising application in bioanalytics. They contain genetic circuitry to produce a cellular sensing element, which detects the target compound and relays the detection to specific synthesis of so-called reporter proteins (the presence or activity of which is easy to quantify). Bioassays with bacterial reporters are a useful complement to chemical analytics because they measure biological responses rather than total chemical concentrations. Simple bacterial reporter assays may also replace more costly chemical methods as a first line sample analysis technique. Recent promising developments integrate bacterial reporter cells with microsystems to produce bacterial biosensors. This lecture presents an in-depth treatment of the synthetic biological design principles of bacterial reporters, the engineering of which started as simple recombinant DNA puzzles, but has now become a more rational approach of choosing and combining sensing, controlling and reporting DNA 'parts'. Several examples of existing bacterial reporter designs and their genetic circuitry will be illustrated. Besides the design principles, the lecture also focuses on the application principles of bacterial reporter assays. A variety of assay formats will be illustrated, and principles of quantification will be dealt with. In addition to this discussion, substantial reference material is supplied in various Annexes. Table of Contents: Short History of the use of Bacteria for Biosensing and Bioreporting / Genetic Engineering Concepts / Measuring with Bioreporters / Epilogue
Introduction to Continuum Biomechanics
This book is concerned with the study of continuum mechanics applied to biological systems, i.e., continuum biomechanics. This vast and exciting subject allows description of when a bone may fracture due to excessive loading, how blood behaves as both a solid and fluid, down to how cells respond to mechanical forces that lead to changes in their behavior, a process known as mechanotransduction. We have written for senior undergraduate students and first year graduate students in mechanical or biomedical engineering, but individuals working at biotechnology companies that deal in biomaterials or biomechanics should also find the information presented relevant and easily accessible. Table of Contents: Tensor Calculus / Kinematics of a Continuum / Stress / Elasticity / Fluids / Blood and Circulation / Viscoelasticity / Poroelasticity and Thermoelasticity / Biphasic Theory
Hitting the Wall
Hitting the Wall examines the combination of two intractable energy problems of our age: the peaking of global oil production and the overloading of the atmosphere with greenhouse gases. Both emerge from the overconsumption of fossil fuels and solving one problem helps solve the other. The misinformation campaign about climate change is discussed as is the role that noncarbon energy solutions can play. There are nine major components in the proposed noncarbon strategy including energy efficiency and renewable energy. Economics and realistic restraints are considered and the total carbon reduction by 2030 is evaluated, and the results show that this strategy will reduce the carbon emission in the United States to be on track to an 80% reduction in 2050. The prospects for "clean" coal and "acceptable" nuclear are considered, and there is some hope that they would be used in an interim role. Although there are significant technical challenges to assembling these new energy systems, the primary difficulty lies in the political arena. A multigenerational strategy is needed to guide our actions over the next century. Garnering long-term multiadministration coherent policies to put the elements of any proposed strategy in place, is a relatively rare occurrence in the United States. More common is the reversal of one policy by the next administration with counterproductive results. A framework for politically stable action is developed using the framework of "energy tribes" where all the disparate voices in the energy debate are included and considered in a "messy process." This book provides hope that our descendants in the next century will live in a world that would be familiar to us. This can only be achieved if the United States plays an active leadership role in maintaining climatic balance. Table of Contents: Introduction / The End of Cheap Oil / Carbon - Too Much ofa Good Thing / Carbonless Energy Options / Conventional Energy / Policy for Whom? / Call to Arms / References
Introductory Medical Imaging
This book provides an introduction to the principles of several of the more widely used methods in medical imaging. Intended for engineering students, it provides a final-year undergraduate- or graduate-level introduction to several imaging modalities, including MRI, ultrasound, and X-Ray CT. The emphasis of the text is on mathematical models for imaging and image reconstruction physics. Emphasis is also given to sources of imaging artefacts. Such topics are usually not addressed across the different imaging modalities in one book, and this is a notable strength of the treatment given here. Table of Contents: Introduction / Diagnostic X-Ray Imaging / X-Ray CT / Ultrasonics / Pulse-Echo Ultrasonic Imaging / Doppler Velocimetry / An Introduction to MRI
Control Grid Motion Estimation for Efficient Application of Optical Flow
Motion estimation is a long-standing cornerstone of image and video processing. Most notably, motion estimation serves as the foundation for many of today's ubiquitous video coding standards including H.264. Motion estimators also play key roles in countless other applications that serve the consumer, industrial, biomedical, and military sectors. Of the many available motion estimation techniques, optical flow is widely regarded as most flexible. The flexibility offered by optical flow is particularly useful for complex registration and interpolation problems, but comes at a considerable computational expense. As the volume and dimensionality of data that motion estimators are applied to continue to grow, that expense becomes more and more costly. Control grid motion estimators based on optical flow can accomplish motion estimation with flexibility similar to pure optical flow, but at a fraction of the computational expense. Control grid methods also offer the added benefit of representing motion far more compactly than pure optical flow. This booklet explores control grid motion estimation and provides implementations of the approach that apply to data of multiple dimensionalities. Important current applications of control grid methods including registration and interpolation are also developed. Table of Contents: Introduction / Control Grid Interpolation (CGI) / Application of CGI to Registration Problems / Application of CGI to Interpolation Problems / Discussion and Conclusions
Nanotechnology for Bioengineers
Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary field that is rapidly evolving and expanding. Significant advancements have been made in nanotechnology-related disciplines in the past few decades and continued growth and progression in the field are anticipated. Moreover, nanotechnology, omnipresent in innovation, has been applied to resolve critical challenges in nearly every field, especially those related to biological technologies and processes. This book, used as either a textbook for a short course or a reference book, provides state-of-the-art analysis of essential topics in nanotechnology for bioengineers studying and working in biotechnology, chemical/biochemical, pharmaceutical, biomedical, and other related fields. The book topics range from introduction to nanotechnology and nanofabrication to applications of nanotechnology in various biological fields. This book not only intends to introduce bioengineers to the amazing world of nanotechnology, but also inspires them to use nanotechnology to address some of the world's biggest challenges.
Oil & Gas Produced Water Management
Produced water contributes to the largest volume waste stream associated with oil and gas (O&G) exploration and production (E&P) operations. It is usually a complex mixture of inorganics and organics that is formed underground and brought to the surface during O&G production. Traditionally, produced water has been considered as a waste to the O&G industry. The conventional management strategies include disposal (typically by injection into depleted wells or permitted disposal wells), recycle (direct reuse within the E&P operation), and reuse (treatment and reuse offsite for food crop irrigation, livestock watering or industrial use). The O&G industry is going through a paradigm shift, where scarcity of water, economics of water management, declining oil costs, and increasing focus on environmental and ecological stewardship are shifting the focus toward integrated water management in E&P operations. Water is no longer a problem to be delegated to a third-party disposal or treatment vendor, but is becoming a cornerstone of O&G production. In this review, we summarize produced water characteristics, regulations and management options, produced water treatment fundamentals, and a detailed discussion of process equipment and advantages/disadvantages of currently available treatment processes. These results in peer-reviewed publications could provide a guide for the selection of appropriate technologies based on the desired application. Major research efforts in the future could focus on the optimization of current technologies and use of combined treatment processes of produced water in order to comply with reuse and discharge limits, under more stringent environmental regulations.
Latency and Distortion of Electromagnetic Trackers for Augmented Reality Systems
Augmented reality (AR) systems are often used to superimpose virtual objects or information on a scene to improve situational awareness. Delays in the display system or inaccurate registration of objects destroy the sense of immersion a user experiences when using AR systems. AC electromagnetic trackers are ideal for these applications when combined with head orientation prediction to compensate for display system delays. Unfortunately, these trackers do not perform well in environments that contain conductive or ferrous materials due to magnetic field distortion without expensive calibration techniques. In our work we focus on both the prediction and distortion compensation aspects of this application, developing a "small footprint" predictive filter for display lag compensation and a simplified calibration system for AC magnetic trackers. In the first phase of our study we presented a novel method of tracking angular head velocity from quaternion orientation using an Extended KalmanFilter in both single model (DQEKF) and multiple model (MMDQ) implementations. In the second phase of our work we have developed a new method of mapping the magnetic field generated by the tracker without high precision measurement equipment. This method uses simple fixtures with multiple sensors in a rigid geometry to collect magnetic field data in the tracking volume. We have developed a new algorithm to process the collected data and generate a map of the magnetic field distortion that can be used to compensate distorted measurement data. Table of Contents: List of Tables / Preface / Acknowledgments / Delta Quaternion Extended Kalman Filter / Multiple Model Delta Quaternion Filter / Interpolation Volume Calibration / Conclusion / References / Authors' Biographies
Landmarking and Segmentation of 3D CT Images
Segmentation and landmarking of computed tomographic (CT) images of pediatric patients are important and useful in computer-aided diagnosis (CAD), treatment planning, and objective analysis of normal as well as pathological regions. Identification and segmentation of organs and tissues in the presence of tumors are difficult. Automatic segmentation of the primary tumor mass in neuroblastoma could facilitate reproducible and objective analysis of the tumor's tissue composition, shape, and size. However, due to the heterogeneous tissue composition of the neuroblastic tumor, ranging from low-attenuation necrosis to high-attenuation calcification, segmentation of the tumor mass is a challenging problem. In this context, methods are described in this book for identification and segmentation of several abdominal and thoracic landmarks to assist in the segmentation of neuroblastic tumors in pediatric CT images. Methods to identify and segment automatically the peripheral artifacts and tissues, the rib structure, the vertebral column, the spinal canal, the diaphragm, and the pelvic surface are described. Techniques are also presented to evaluate quantitatively the results of segmentation of the vertebral column, the spinal canal, the diaphragm, and the pelvic girdle by comparing with the results of independent manual segmentation performed by a radiologist. The use of the landmarks and removal of several tissues and organs are shown to assist in limiting the scope of the tumor segmentation process to the abdomen, to lead to the reduction of the false-positive error, and to improve the result of segmentation of neuroblastic tumors. Table of Contents: Introduction to Medical Image Analysis / Image Segmentation / Experimental Design and Database / Ribs, Vertebral Column, and Spinal Canal / Delineation of the Diaphragm / Delineation of the Pelvic Girdle / Application of Landmarking / Concluding Remarks
