Thinking with Diagrams

Thinking with Diagrams

This book provides an introductory overview of the rapid growth in interdisciplinary research into Thinking with Diagrams. Diagrammatic representations are becoming more common in everyday human experience, yet they offer unique challenges to cognitive science research. Neither linguistic nor perceptual theories are sufficient to completely explain their advantages and applications. These research challenges may be part of the reason why so many diagrams are badly designed or badly used. This is ironic when the user interfaces of computer software and the worldwide web are becoming so completely dominated by graphical and diagrammatic representations. This book includes chapters commissioned from leading researchers in the major disciplines involved in diagrams research. They review the philosophical status of diagrams, the cognitive processes involved in their application, and a range of specialist fields in which diagrams are central, including education, architectural design and visual programming languages. The result is immediately relevant to researchers in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, as well as in applied technology areas such as human-computer interaction and information design.

Thinking with Diagrams

Self-Evolvable Systems

Self-Evolvable Systems

This monograph presents key method to successfully manage the growing complexity of systems where conventional engineering and scientific methodologies and technologies based on learning and adaptability come to their limits and new ways are nowadays required. The transition from adaptable to evolvable and finally to self-evolvable systems is highlighted, self-properties such as self-organization, self-configuration, and self-repairing are introduced and challenges and limitations of the self-evolvable engineering systems are evaluated.

Self-Evolvable Systems

Food Mixing

Food Mixing

The mixing of liquids, solids and gases is one of the most common unit operations in the food industry. Mixing increases the homogeneity of a system by reducing non-uniformity or gradients in composition, properties or temperature. Secondary objectives of mixing include control of rates of heat and mass transfer, reactions and structural changes. In food processing applications, additional mixing challenges include sanitary design, complex rheology, desire for continuous processing and the effects of mixing on final product texture and sensory profiles. Mixing ensures delivery of a product with constant properties. For example, consumers expect all containers of soups, breakfast cereals, fruit mixes, etc to contain the same amount of each ingredient. If mixing fails to achieve the required product yield, quality, organoleptic or functional attributes, production costs may increase significantly.

Food Mixing

Sustainability by Design

Sustainability by Design

The developed world, increasingly aware of inconvenient truths about global warming and sustainability, is turning its attention to possible remedieseco-efficiency, sustainable development, and corporate social responsibility, among others. But such measures are mere Band-Aids, and they may actually do more harm than good, says John Ehrenfeld, a pioneer in the field of industrial ecology. In this deeply considered book, Ehrenfeld challenges conventional understandings of solving environmental problems and offers a radically new set of strategies to attain sustainability.

Sustainability by Design

Dignity Therapy

Dignity Therapy

Maintaining dignity for patients approaching death is a core principle of palliative care. Translating that principle into methods of guiding care at the end of life, however, can be a complicated and daunting task. Dignity therapy, a psychological intervention developed by Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov and his internationally lauded research group, has been designed specifically to address many of the psychological, existential, and spiritual challenges that patients and their families face as they grapple with the reality of life drawing to a close. Tested with patients with advanced illnesses in Canada, the United States, Australia, China, Scotland, England, and Denmark, dignity therapy has been shown to not only benefit patients, but their families as well. In the first book to lay out the blueprint for this unique and meaningful intervention, Chochinov addresses one of the most important dimensions of being human. Being alive means being vulnerable and mortal; he argues that dignity therapy offers a way to preserve meaning and hope for patients approaching death. Dignity Therapy: Final Words for Final Days is a beautiful introduction to this pioneering and innovative work. With history and foundations of dignity in care, and step by step guidance for readers interested in implementing the program, this volume illuminates how dignity therapy can change end-of-life experience for those about to die – and for those who will grieve their passing.

Dignity Therapy

The Future of EMU

The Future of EMU

‘This book brings together the most established experts in the area to provide a comprehensive interdisciplinary perspective on the issues expected to face EMU over the next few decades, and to propose solutions to the challenges which may arise. As well as offering new and insightful contributions to the integration debate, the book is also policy-oriented, and aims to assess the future impact of EMU on various EU policy areas, such as trade policy and fiscal policy, and also its impact on political union and labour markets. With a wealth of fresh and innovative interdisciplinary perspectives on the future of EMU and on the EU integration process as a whole, this fascinating book is an essential companion for all wishing to gain a greater understanding of the challenges facing European integration in the decades to come, and the part which EMU will play in the future of Europe.’

The Future of EMU

Renewable Energy Governance

Renewable Energy Governance

This book focuses on Renewable Energy (RE) governance – the institutions, plans, policies and stakeholders that are involved in RE implementation – and the complexities and challenges associated with this much discussed energy area. Whilst RE technologies have advanced and become cheaper, governance schemes rarely support those technologies in an efficient and cost-effective way.

Renewable Energy Governance

Motion History Images for Action Recognition and Understanding

Motion History Images for Action Recognition and Understanding

Human action analysis and recognition is a relatively mature field, yet one which is often not well understood by students and researchers. The large number of possible variations in human motion and appearance, camera viewpoint, and environment, present considerable challenges. Some important and common problems remain unsolved by the computer vision community. However, many valuable approaches have been proposed over the past decade, including the motion history image (MHI) method. This method has received significant attention, as it offers greater robustness and performance than other techniques. This work presents a comprehensive review of these state-of-the-art approaches and their applications, with a particular focus on the MHI method and its variants.

Motion History Images for Action Recognition and Understanding

Bioenergy from Wood

Bioenergy from Wood

This book is written for scientists and practitioners interested in deepening their knowledge of the sustainable production of bioenergy from wood in tropical and sub-tropical countries. Utilising the value chain concept, this book outlines the necessary aspects for managing sustainable bioenergy production. A wide range of topics is covered including biomass localization, modelling and upscaling, production management in woodlands and plantations, and transport and logistics. Biomass quality and conversion pathways are examined in order to match the conversion technology with the available biomass. A section is dedicated to issues surrounding sustainability. The issues, covered in a life-cycle assessment of the bioenergy system, include socio-economic challenges, local effects on water, biodiversity, nutrient-sustainability and global impacts. Through this holistic approach and supporting examples from tropical and sub-tropical countries, the reader is guided in designing and implementing a value chain as the main management instrument for sustainable wood.

Bioenergy from Wood

Security and Privacy for Implantable Medical Devices

Security and Privacy for Implantable Medical Devices

This book presents a systematic approach to analyzing the challenging engineering problems posed by the need for security and privacy in implantable medical devices (IMD). It describes in detail new issues termed as lightweight security, due to the associated constraints on metrics such as available power, energy, computing ability, area, execution time, and memory requirements. Coverage includes vulnerabilities and defense across multiple levels, with basic abstractions of cryptographic services and primitives such as public key cryptography, block ciphers and digital signatures. Experts from Computer Security and Cryptography present new research which shows vulnerabilities in existing IMDs and proposes solutions. Experts from Privacy Technology and Policy will discuss the societal, legal and ethical challenges surrounding IMD security as well as technological solutions that build on the latest in Computer Science privacy research, as well as lightweight solutions appropriate for implementation in IMDs.

Security and Privacy for Implantable Medical Devices

Clusters in Nuclei, Volume 1

Clusters in Nuclei, Volume 1

Following the pioneering discovery of alpha clustering and of molecular resonances, the field of nuclear clustering is presently one of the domains of heavy-ion nuclear physics facing both the greatest challenges and opportunities. After many summer schools and workshops, in particular over the last decade, the community of nuclear molecular physics decided to team up in producing a comprehensive collection of lectures and tutorial reviews covering the field. This first volume, gathering seven extensive lectures, covers the follow topics: * Cluster Radioactivity * Cluster States and Mean Field Theories * Alpha Clustering and Alpha Condensates * Clustering in Neutron-rich Nuclei * Di-neutron Clustering * Collective Clusterization in Nuclei * Giant Nuclear Molecules By promoting new ideas and developments while retaining a pedagogical nature of presentation throughout, these lectures will both serve as a reference and as advanced teaching material for future courses and schools in the fields of nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics.

Clusters in Nuclei, Volume 1

Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare

Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare

Through history armies of occupation and civil power have been repeatedly faced with the challenges of insurgency. US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan has highlighted this form of conflict in the modern world. Armies, sometimes reluctantly, have had to adopt new doctrines and tactics to deal with the problems of insurgency and diverse counterinsurgency strategies have been developed. These have ranged from conventional military operations to a combination of military and political strategy including propaganda, Psy-Ops, and other approaches.

Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare

Dynamics of Magnetically Trapped Particles - Second Edition

Dynamics of Magnetically Trapped Particles - Second Edition

This book is a new edition of Roederers classic Dynamics of Geomagnetically Trapped Radiation, updated and considerably expanded. The main objective is to describe the dynamic properties of magnetically trapped particles in planetary radiation belts and plasmas and explain the physical processes involved from the theoretical point of view. The approach is to examine in detail the orbital and adiabatic motion of individual particles in typical configurations of magnetic and electric fields in the magnetosphere and, from there, derive basic features of the particles collective macroscopic behavior in general planetary environments. Emphasis is not on the what but on the why of particle phenomena in near-earth space, providing a solid and clear understanding of the principal basic physical mechanisms and dynamic processes involved. The book will also serve as an introduction to general space plasma physics, with abundant basic examples to illustrate and explain the physical origin of different types of plasma current systems and their self-organizing character via the magnetic field. The ultimate aim is to help both graduate students and interested scientists to successfully face the theoretical and experimental challenges lying ahead in space physics in view of recent and upcoming satellite missions and an expected wealth of data on radiation belts and plasmas.

Dynamics of Magnetically Trapped Particles - Second Edition

Postoperative Critical Care for Cardiac Surgical Patients

Postoperative Critical Care for Cardiac Surgical Patients

Cardiac surgical procedures are among the most common and most complicated forms of surgery worldwide and the postoperative period is characterized by complex challenges. Among the factors determining ultimate clinical outcome, postoperative critical care is of major importance. This book adopts a clinical approach in explaining and analyzing the course of clinical care in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Since the postoperative clinical status is directly influenced by preoperative and intraoperative factors, the early chapters briefly examine preoperative issues and the intraoperative course of cardiac surgery, with particular attention to anesthesia and the process of cardiopulmonary bypass. Subsequent chapters primarily address the critical care of patients by means of an organ-oriented approach, which will enable the reader to use the text as a ‘cookbook’ of cardiac intensive care. This book is intended for use in daily practice by cardiac surgeons, cardiac anesthesiologists, intensivists and cardiac intensive care nurses.

Postoperative Critical Care for Cardiac Surgical Patients

Nanoparticles

Nanoparticles

Many objects of physical, biological, and industrial interest include randomly distributed nanoscale nonuniformities, e.g., nanoparticles. Their characterization online in dynamic industrial processes and in situ in biological systems faces serious practical challenges when the rapid formation and distribution of nanoparticles takes place. This book discusses optical methods the best tools for nanoparticle monitoring, as they are fast, noninvasive, and provide a broad range of information in real time and their application in molecular biology and nanotechnology.

Nanoparticles

Clusters in Nuclei, Volume 3

Clusters in Nuclei, Volume 3

Following the pioneering discovery of alpha clustering and of molecular resonances, the field of nuclear clustering is today one of those domains of heavy-ion nuclear physics that faces the greatest challenges, yet also contains the greatest opportunities. After many summer schools and workshops, in particular over the last decade, the community of nuclear molecular physicists has decided to collaborate in producing a comprehensive collection of lectures and tutorial reviews covering the field. This third volume follows the successful Lect. Notes Phys. 818 (Vol. 1) and 848 (Vol. 2), and comprises six extensive lectures covering the following topics:

Clusters in Nuclei, Volume 3

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

Essential Stem Cell Methods

Essential Stem Cell Methods

As part of the Reliable Lab Solutions series, this volume offers an abridged and comprehensive update of selected chapters that first appeared in the three-volume stem cell series published in Methods in Enzymology. Currently, stem cells are of great interest to scientists and clinicians due to their unique ability to differentiate into various tissues of the body, making them a promising source of cells for regenerative medicine and drug discovery as well as an excellent model of vertebrate development. ‘Essential Stem Cell Methods’features a detailed set ofprotocolswritten by experts in the field and hand-selected by the editors to helpresearchers drive advances in this fast-moving field. The result is a clear set of step-by-stepmethods which steer the reader through the challenges of stem cell isolation and differentiation and provide a handy guide for researchers in the field.

Essential Stem Cell Methods

Eutrophication - Volume 2

Eutrophication - Volume 2

Eutrophication continues to be a major global challenge and the problem of eutrophication and availability of freshwater for human consumption is an essential ecological issue. The global demand for water resources due to increasing population, economic developments, and emerging energy development schemes has created new environmental challenges for global sustainability. Accordingly, the area of research on eutrophication has expanded considerably in recent years. Eutrophication, acidification and contamination by toxic substances are likely to pose increasing threats to freshwater resources and ecosystems. The consequences of anthropogenic-induced eutrophication of freshwaters are severe deterioration of surface waters and growing public concern, as well as new interest among the scientific community. Eutrophication: causes, consequences & control provides the latest information on many important aspects of the processes of natural and accelerated eutrophication in major aquatic ecosystems around the world.

Eutrophication - Volume 2

Archetypes

Archetypes

Have you ever wondered why you are drawn to certain people, ideas or products and turned off by others? Are you constantly searching for something you can’t put your finger on, or wondering whether you are living a life that truly fits? In Archetypes, New York Times bestselling author Caroline Myss delves into the world of archetypes, which have been the subject of her work for more than 25 years. Archetypes are universal patterns of behavior that, once discovered, help you better understand yourself and your place in the world. In short, knowing your archetypes can transform your life. Within the pages of this book, Myss writes about ten primary archetypes that have emerged in today’s society: the Caregiver, the Artist/Creative, the Fashionista, the Intellectual, the Rebel, the Queen/Executive, the Advocate, the Visionary, the Athlete, and the Spiritual Seeker. In each chapter, she explains one individual archetype, showing how it has evolved and then in fascinating detail lays out the unique characteristics, the defining graces, the life challenges, and other information to help you understand if you are part of this archetype family and if so, how you can fully tap into its power. She also offers tips and practical advice on how to fully engage with your archetypes. Learning which archetypes best describe you is just the beginning. You can then use this knowledge to make more conscious decisions about everything from careers to relationships, avoiding common pitfalls of your personality type while playing up your strengths. The result is a happier, more authentic you. It’s never too late to change your life by embracing your archetypes to the fullest. So are you a Rebel? An Artist? A Visionary? Join us . . . and find yourself.

Archetypes