Meta-Programming and Model-Driven Meta-Program Development

Meta-Programming and Model-Driven Meta-Program Development

Meta-Programming and Model-Driven Meta-Program Development: Principles, Processes and Techniques presents an overall analysis of meta-programming, focusing on insights of meta-programming techniques, heterogeneous meta-program development processes in the context of model-driven, feature-based and transformative approaches.The fundamental concepts of meta-programming are still not thoroughly understood, in this well organized book divided into three parts the authors help to address this. Chapters include: Taxonomy of fundamental concepts of meta-programming; Concept of structural heterogeneous meta-programming based on the original meta-language; Model-driven concept and feature-based modeling to the development process of meta-programs; Equivalent meta-program transformations and metrics to evaluate complexity of feature-based models and meta-programs; Variety of academic research case studies within different application domains to experimentally verify the soundness of the investigated approaches.Both authors are professors at Kaunas University of Technology with 15 years research and teaching experience in the field. Meta-Programming and Model-Driven Meta-Program Development: Principles, Processes and Techniques is aimed at post-graduates in computer science and software engineering and researchers and program system developers wishing to extend their knowledge in this rapidly evolving sector of science and technology.

Meta-Programming and Model-Driven Meta-Program Development

Basic Vision

Basic Vision

Why do things look blurry underwater? Why do people drive too fast in fog? How do you high-pass filter a cup of tea? What have mixer taps to do with colour vision? Basic Vision: An Introduction to Visual Perception demystifies the processes through which we see the world. Written by three authors with over 80 years of research and undergraduate teaching experience between them, it leads the reader step-by-step through the intricacies of visual processing, with full-colour illustrations on nearly every page. The writing style captures the excitement of recent research in neuroscience that has transformed our understanding of visual processing, but delivers it with a humour that keeps the reader enthused, rather than bemused. The book takes us through the various elements that come together as our perception of the world around us: the perception of size, colour, motion, and three-dimensional space. It illustrates the intricacy of the visual system, discussing its development during infancy, and revealing how the brain can get it wrong, either as a result of brain damage, through which the network of processes become compromised, or through illusion, where the brain compensates for mixed messages by seeing what it thinks should be there, rather than conveying the reality. The book also demonstrates the importance of contemporary techniques and methodology, and neuroscience-based techniques in particular, in driving forward our understanding of the visual system. Online Resource Centre The Online Resource Centre to accompany Basic Vision features: For registered adopters: Figures from the book available to download, to facilitate lecture preparation. Test bank of multiple choice questions – a readily available tool for either formative or summative assessment. A Journal Club, with questions to lead students through key research articles that relate to topics covered in the book. For students: Annotated web links, giving students ready access to these additional learning resources.

Basic Vision

Biomechanics of the Gravid Human Uterus

Biomechanics of the Gravid Human Uterus

The complexity of human uterine function and regulation is one of the great wonders of nature and represents a daunting challenge to unravel. This book is dedicated to the biomechanical modeling of the gravid human uterus and gives an example of the application of the mechanics of solids and the theory of soft shells to explore medical problems of labor and delivery. After a brief overview of the anatomy, physiology and biomechanics of the uterus, the authors focus mainly on electromechanical wave processes, their origin, dynamics, and neuroendocrine and pharmacological modulations. In the last chapter applications, pitfalls and problems related to modeling and computer simulations of the pregnant uterus and pelvic floor structures are discussed. A collection of exercises is added at the end of each chapter to help readers with self-evaluation. The book serves as an invaluable source of information for researchers, instructors and advanced undergraduate and graduate students interested in systems biology, applied mathematics and biomedical engineering.

Biomechanics of the Gravid Human Uterus

Yen and Jaffes Reproductive Endocrinology

Yen and Jaffes Reproductive Endocrinology

Thoroughly revised and now enhanced with color artwork, the new edition of this premier reference continues to offer the latest information on the diagnosis and management of reproductive endocrine disorders. National and international leaders from the field of reproductive endocrinology-including 30 new authors-equip you with coverage that encompasses the full spectrum of reproductive pathophysiology and disorders, from pregnancy and birth to reproductive aging. Full-color illustrations and new drawings provide a real-life depiction of basic cell structures and endocrine responses for a better understanding of the material, while new chapters explore the issues shaping todays practice. As an Expert Consult title, it includes convenient online access to the complete text of the book-fully searchable-along with all of the images, and references linked to Medline at www.expertconsult.com.

Yen and Jaffes Reproductive Endocrinology

Mobile Computer Usability

Mobile Computer Usability

This book explains how mobile computer usability is shaped by the increasing integration of personal circumstances in organization. It represents an attempt to conceptualize an alternative model of mobile computer usability. It is motivated by the authors conviction that we do not yet have an adequate understanding of this concept because we have not taken seriously the transformation of human personality by the co-evolution of organization and ICTs. The author argues that the transformation has resulted in a human personality whose personal and organizational activities are characterized by strong continuities between them. This characterization reflects a new kind of personality of the worker, and is a critical determinant of mobile computer usability. The word organizational is used to describe this kind of personality hence an alternative organizational personality perspective on mobile computer usability. This perspective suggests that a mobile computer is more usable to a person than another one because of its satisfaction of both his personal and organizational motives, which are in turn shaped by the co-evolution of organization, technology and personality.

Mobile Computer Usability

Motherland

Motherland

Motherland is inspired by stories from the authors father and his German childhood, and letters between her grandparents that were hidden in an attic wall for fifty years. It is the authors attempt to reckon with the paradox of her fathera product of her grandparents fiercely protective love and their status as Mitlufer, Germans who went along with Nazism, first reaping its benefits and later its consequences.

Motherland

The Cloning Sourcebook

The Cloning Sourcebook

Animal cloning has developed quickly since the birth of Dolly the sheep. Yet many of the first questions to be raised still need to be answered. What do Dolly and her fellow mouse, cow, pig, goat and monkey clones mean for science? And for society? Why do so many people respond so fearfully to cloning? What are the ethical issues raised by cloning animals, and in the future, humans? How are the makers of public policy coping with the stunning fact that an entire animal can be reconstructed from a single adult cell? And that humans might well be next? The Cloning Source Book addresses all of these questions in a way that is unique in the cloning literature, by grounding what is effectively an interdisciplinary conversation in solid science. In the first section of the book, the key scientists responsible for the early and crucial developments in cloning speak to us directly, and other scientists evaluate and comment on these developments. The second section explores the context of cloning and includes sociological, mythological, and historical perspectives on science, ethics, and policy. The authors also examine the media’s treatment of the Dolly story and its aftermath, both in the United States and in Britain. The third section, on ethics, contains a broad range of papers written by some of the major commentators in the field. The fourth section addresses legal and policy issues. It features individual and collective contributions by those who have actually shaped public policy on reproductive cloning, therapeutic cloning, and similarly contentious bioethical issues in the United States, Britain, and the European Union. Animal cloning continues for agricultural and medicinal purposes, the latter in combination with transgenics. Human cloning for therapeutic purposes has recently been made legal in Britain. The goal is to produce an early embryo and then derive stem cells that are immunologically matched to the donor. Two human reproductive cloning projects have been announced, and there are almost certainly others about which we know nothing. Sooner or later a cloned human will be born. Many lessons can be learned from the cloning experience. Most importantly, there needs to be a public conversation about the permissible uses of new and morally murky technologies. Scientists, journalists, ethicists and policy makers all have roles to play, but cutting-edge science is everybody’s business. The Cloning Sourcebook provides the tools required for us to participate in shaping our own futures.

The Cloning Sourcebook

Adobe Flex 4,Volume 1

Adobe Flex 4,Volume 1

Adobe Flex: Training from the Source is the best-selling and most trusted resource for learning about Adobe Flex. Written by a team of authors with practical experience as consultants, mentors and developers of courseware, this book/CD uses project-based tutorials, and is designed to teach beginning Flex developers the details of building and architecting real-world rich internet applications using Flash Builder incorporating MXML and ActionScript 3.0. The book includes a CD that contains all the files used in the lessons, plus completed projects for comparison. This latest edition includes complete coverage of New Flex 4 features such as the Spark Component model, Advanced Skinning, Component Creation, and much more.

Adobe Flex 4,Volume 1

Control of Surge in Centrifugal Compressors by Active Magnetic Bearings

Control of Surge in Centrifugal Compressors by Active Magnetic Bearings

Surge Control of Active-magnetic-bearing-suspended Centrifugal Compressors sets out the fundamentals of integrating active magnetic bearing (AMB) rotor suspension technology in compressor systems, and describes how this relatively new bearing technology can be employed in active control of compressor surge initiation. The authors provide a self-contained and comprehensive review of rotordynamics and the fundamentals of AMB technology. The active stabilization of compressor surge employing AMBs in a machine is fully explored, from modeling of instability and controller design, to the implementation and experimental testing of the control algorithm in a specially-constructed, industrial-size centrifugal compression system. The results of these tests demonstrate the great potential of the new surge control method suggested in this text. This book will be useful for engineers in industries that involve turbocompressors and magnetic bearings, as well as for researchers and graduate students in the field of applied control. Whatever their level of experience, engineers working in the fields of turbomachinery, magnetic bearings, rotordynamics and controls will find the material in this book absorbing as all these important aspects of engineering are integrated to create a multi-disciplinary solution to a real-life industrial problem and the book is a suitable introduction to the area for newcomers.

Control of Surge in Centrifugal Compressors by Active Magnetic Bearings

The Catalyzing Mind

The Catalyzing Mind

How do we understand and explain phenomena in psychology? What does the concept of causality mean when we discuss higher psychological functions and behavior? Is it possible to generate laws in a psychological and behavioral sciencelaws that go beyond statistical regularities, frequencies, and probabilities? An international group of authors compare and contrast the use of a causal model in psychology with a newer modelthe catalytic model. The Catalyzing Mind: Beyond Models of Causality proposes an approach to the qualitative nature of psychological phenomena that focuses on the psychological significance and meaning of conditions, contexts, and situations as well as their sign-mediating processes. Contributors develop, apply, and criticize the notion of a catalyzing mind in hopes of achieving conceptual clarity and rigor. Disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, semiotics and biosemiotics are used for an interdisciplinary approach to the book. Research topics such as history and national identity, immigration, and transitions to adulthood are all brought into a dialogue with the concept of the catalyzing mind. With a variety of disciplines, theoretical concepts, and research topics this book is a collective effort at an approach to move beyond models of causality for explaining and understanding psychological phenomena.

The Catalyzing Mind

Mathematical Biophysics

Mathematical Biophysics

This book presents concise descriptions and analysis of the classical and modern models used in mathematical biophysics. The authors ask the question ‘what new information can be provided by the models that cannot be obtained directly from experimental data?’ Actively developing fields such as regulatory mechanisms in cells and subcellular systems and electron transport and energy transport in membranes are addressed together with more classical topics such as metabolic processes, nerve conduction and heart activity, chemical kinetics, population dynamics, and photosynthesis. The main approach is to describe biological processes using different mathematical approaches necessary to reveal characteristic features and properties of simulated systems. With the emergence of powerful mathematics software packages such as MAPLE, Mathematica, Mathcad, and MatLab, these methodologies are now accessible to a wide audience.

Mathematical Biophysics

Quantum Potential

Quantum Potential

Recently the interest in Bohm realist interpretation of quantum mechanics has grown. The important advantage of this approach lies in the possibility to introduce non-locality ab initio, and not as an unexpected host. In this book the authors give a detailed analysis of quantum potential, the non-locality term and its role in quantum cosmology and information. The different approaches to the quantum potential are analysed, starting from the original attempt to introduce a realism of particles trajectories (influenced by de Broglie’s pilot wave) to the recent dynamic interpretation provided by Goldstein, Durr, Tumulka and Zangh, and the geometrodynamic picture, with suggestion about quantum gravity. Finally we focus on the algebraic reading of Hiley and Birbeck school, that analyse the meaning of the non-local structure of the world, bringing important consequences for the space, time and information concepts.

Quantum Potential

Practical Approach to Exergy and Thermoeconomic Analyses of Industrial Processes

Practical Approach to Exergy and Thermoeconomic Analyses of Industrial Processes

Although the exergy method has been featured as the subject of many publishing papers in scientific and engineering journals and at conferences, very few comprehensive books on this subject have been published so far. Practical Approach to Exergy and Thermoeconomic Analyses of Industrial Processes details the exergetic and thermoeconomic analyses of industrial processes using Aspen Plus and a novel Microsoft Excel Application developed by the authors which can be applied to industrial processes across the board. Employing a practical approach to an innovative and complex energy process, every chapter contains extensive explanations of a complex and real case and numerous examples whose solution demonstrates the application of theory to a wide range of real and practical problems. Illustrations, tables and graphs support and illustrate the new methodology to build a deep understanding of the real employment of the fuel used and the cost formation and increase inside the process. Practical Approach to Exergy and Thermoeconomic Analyses of Industrial Processes provides users, students and practitioners of process analysis, power plant design and fuel use optimization, with a broad introduction and approach to computer aided process optimization. It also serves as a comprehensive guide to the operational application of the MHBT to real cases analysis.

Practical Approach to Exergy and Thermoeconomic Analyses of Industrial Processes

Soil Security for Ecosystem Management

Soil Security for Ecosystem Management

The term ‘Soil Security’ is used in the context of maintaining the quality and quantity of soil needed in order to ensure continuous supplies of food and fresh water for our society. Topics in this unique book on the management of soil sustainability in the Mediterranean region include: soil information, land degradation, land desertification, pedoenvironments, and the carbon cycle and sequestration. One main focus of the book is the description of new approaches that have been adapted with regards to interdisciplinary soil ecosystem management to combat and mitigate desertification. The contributing authors are renowned experts in their fields which cover the subjects on traditional as well as innovative land use and management.

Soil Security for Ecosystem Management

Superconductivity

Superconductivity

Superconductivity: Physics and Applications brings together major developments that have occurred within the field over the past twenty years. Taking a truly modern approach to the subject the authors provide an interesting and accessible introduction.

Superconductivity

Thermal Energy Storage

Thermal Energy Storage

The ability of thermal energy storage (TES) systems to facilitate energy savings, renewable energy use and reduce environmental impact has led to a recent resurgence in their interest. The second edition of this book offers up-to-date coverage of recent energy efficient and sustainable technological methods and solutions, covering analysis, design and performance improvement as well as life-cycle costing and assessment. As well as having significantly revised the book for use as a graduate text, the authors address real-life technical and operational problems, enabling the reader to gain an understanding of the fundamental principles and practical applications of thermal energy storage technology.

Thermal Energy Storage

Phonetic Search Methods for Large Speech Databases

Phonetic Search Methods for Large Speech Databases

Phonetic Search Methods for Large Databases focuses on Keyword Spotting (KWS) within large speech databases. The brief will begin by outlining the challenges associated with Keyword Spotting within large speech databases using dynamic keyword vocabularies. It will then continue by highlighting the various market segments in need of KWS solutions, as well as, the specific requirements of each market segment. The work also includes a detailed description of the complexity of the task and the different methods that are used, including the advantages and disadvantages of each method and an in-depth comparison. The main focus will be on the Phonetic Search method and its efficient implementation. This will include a literature review of the various methods used for the efficient implementation of Phonetic Search Keyword Spotting, with an emphasis on the authors own research which entails a comparative analysis of the Phonetic Search method which includes algorithmic details. This brief is useful for researchers and developers in academia and industry from the fields of speech processing and speech recognition, specifically Keyword Spotting.

Phonetic Search Methods for Large Speech Databases

From Literature to Biterature

From Literature to Biterature

From Literature to Biterature is based on the premise that in the foreseeable future computers will become capable of creating works of literature. Among hundreds of other questions, it considers: Under which conditions would machines become capable of creative writing? Given that computer evolution will exceed the pace of natural evolution a million-fold, what will such a state of affairs entail in terms of art, culture, social life, and even nonhuman rights? Drawing a map of impending literary, cultural, social, and technological revolutions, Peter Swirski boldly assumes that computers will leap from mere syntax-driven processing to semantically rich understanding. He argues that acknowledging biterature as a species of literature will involve adopting the same range of attitudes to computer authors (computhors) as to human ones and that it will be necessary to approach them as agents with internal states and creative intentions. Ranging from the metafiction of Stanislaw Lem to the ‘Turing test’ (familiar to scientists working in Artificial Intelligence and the philosophers of mind) to the evolutionary trends of culture and machines, Swirski’s scenarios lay the groundwork for a new area of study on the cusp of literary futurology, evolutionary cognition, and philosophy of the future.

From Literature to Biterature

In Search of Muhammad

In Search of Muhammad

Who was Muhammad? What do Muslims believe about him? What have non-Muslims said about him? Why has he been such a controversial figure? Why have non-Muslims called him a charlatan, and oppurtunist? Why Muslims call him the ‘perfect man’? Why have his sexuality and his military exploits attracted censure? Are the texts available for constructing his biography reliable or suspect? There are some of the questions and issues which Clinton Bennett explores in his book. His preference for a conservative evaluation of the historical record will not please everyone, nor will his sympathetic treatment of Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses. In his effort to gain an insider-like understanding of Muhammad, the author found himself discussing at length some contentious issues, such as whether or not Muhammad performed miracles. His encounters with Muslims suggested that whilst non-Muslims have tended to dismiss the miracle stories as pious fiction, Muslims accept their authenticity. The author, who develops what he calls and ‘anthropological theology’ to pursue his study, argues that our preconceptions about Muhammad, rather than our reserch methods, determine how we reply to the question. ‘What do you thin of Muhammad?’. The book takes diversity of Muslim opinion seriously and explores what theologians, mystics, philosophers and politicians have said about Muhammad. In addition, the book, which combines textual and interpersonal research, concludes with an attempt to incorporate regard for Muhammad within the authors own Christian worldview. Clinton Bennett’s overall approach ensures the book’s usefulness as a guide to Islamic thought and history. Clinton Bennett, newly appointed Associate Professor of Religion and Baylor University, Texas, was Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies, and assistant chaplain, at Westminster College, Oxford. He has worked in Bangladesh, in Birmingham as a community development worker, and on the staff of the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland. he has also written Victorian Images of Islam (1992) and In Search of the Sacred: Athropology and the Study of Religions (1996) and is the editor of Discernment: An Ecumenical Journal of Inter-Religious Encounter. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and of the Royal Anthropological Institute.

In Search of Muhammad

Dynamic Systems Biology Modeling and Simulation

Dynamic Systems Biology Modeling and Simulation

Dynamic Systems Biology Modeling and Simuation consolidates and unifies classical and contemporary multiscale methodologies for mathematical modeling and computer simulation of dynamic biological systems from molecular/cellular, organ-system, on up to population levels. The book pedagogy is developed as a well-annotated, systematic tutorial with clearly spelled-out and unified nomenclature derived from the authors own modeling efforts, publications and teaching over half a century. Ambiguities in some concepts and tools are clarified and others are rendered more accessible and practical. The latter include novel qualitative theory and methodologies for recognizing dynamical signatures in data using structural (multicompartmental and network) models and graph theory; and analyzing structural and measurement (data) models for quantification feasibility. The level is basic-to-intermediate, with much emphasis on biomodeling from real biodata, for use in real applications.

Dynamic Systems Biology Modeling and Simulation