CRC Press
Missing data in longitudinal studies; strategies for Bayesian modeling and sensitivity analysis.
With a focus on health care, this book takes a systematic approach to a common problem in research, presenting solutions that work in a variety of study designs, variable types and situations in which data is missing. Daniels (U. of Florida) and Hogan (Brown U.) begin by describing problems encountered in dose-finding trials for an experimental treatment for schizophrenia, a trial of recombinant human growth hormone for increasing muscle strength in the elderly, a smoking cessation study, and HIV studies. Keeping such applications in mind, they then describe regression models, methods for Bayesian inference, worked examples using complete data, missing data mechanisms, inference about full-data parameters under the rules of "ignorability," models for ignorable and nonignorable situations, informative priors and sensitivity analysis. Code is provided on a supplementary web page. The bibliography is excellent, and the authors also include suggestions for further reading with most chapters. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Mixed boundary value problems.
Written for advanced mathematics and physics students, this textbook examines mixed boundary value problems and the specific techniques that have been used to solve these equations. Duffy spent many years teaching at the United States Naval Academy and also worked at NASA for 25 years, which led to his expertise in the field of transform methods, engineering mathematics and Green's functions. This textbook also uses MATLAB to illustrate the solutions and provide codes for examples. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Modeling and control of complex systems.
The purpose of this reference work is to present the newest approaches and future research directions in the area of modeling and control of complex systems. Written for system theorists, the book is a collection of essays by research professionals working in different areas and disciplines. Its 16 chapters explore the areas and disciplines that can be considered complex systems, including neural networks for modeling and control, modeling and control of civil structures, transportation systems, sensor networks, genomics, computer networks, and fluid flow systems. Ioannou (electrical engineering systems, U. of Southern California) and Pitsillides (computer science, U. of Cyprus) note that the book intends to encourage a multidisciplinary approach to complexity by offering knowledge and practices from a variety of fields of research. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Modern protective structures; design, analysis, and evaluation.
Krauthammer (civil engineering, Center for Infrastructure Protection and Physical Security, University of Florida) addresses a broad range of scientific and technical issues involved in mitigating the severe loading effects associated with blast, shock, and impact. Presenting theoretical, numerical, and practical information, the book develops realistic guidelines for the analysis, design, assessment, retrofit, and research of protected facilities. After introducing a comprehensive risk management approach, the author provides general background on explosive devices and their capabilities, as well as explosive effects and the processes that generate them. He then discusses the effects of conventional and nuclear explosions, and considers the design differences between conventional and nuclear loads and between existing design procedures and state-of-the-art information from recent research. Additional coverage includes the behavior of specific structural connections, the traditional concept of P-I diagrams, and progressive collapse. The book concludes with a protective design approach. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Nanotechnology; legal aspects.
Generally science and technology are a couple of years, at least, ahead of the law. In the case of nanotechnology, executives, legislators and jurists are forewarned that they can either anticipate issues peculiar to this exploding field or deal with the consequences and perhaps shut down whole new fields of inquiry. Practitioner Boucher, who matches his JD with a PhD in physics, steps attorneys, managers and the rank and file through the legal foundations of nanotechnology, covering the protection system (such as patents, copyrights, creations as artistic woks, and integrated circuit topography. He then describes how regulation works, including its agencies, and what liabilities nanotechnology may incur, including those that are civil or criminal. Considering the complexity of the topic his text is remarkably accessible. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Optimization in medicine and biology.
Optimization is a crucial component in research and decision-making across a number of fields. Lim (industrial engineering, University of Houston) and Lee (industrial and systems engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology) provide readers with a reference that will enable them to use the latest optimization techniques for solving complex problems in medical research and biology, such as disease prediction and control, cancer therapeutics, DNA sequencing, protein structure analysis, and drug design and development. Chapters on applications cover basic models, theories, and computational approaches. Some chapters are dedicated to modeling techniques, and some address computational algorithms for solving very complex models. The aim of the book is to facilitate collaboration among optimization researchers and medical professions. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Optimizing women's health through nutrition.
Nutritional scientists Thompson (emeritus, U. of Toronto) and Ward (same campus) describe recent research on biological and physiological differences between women and men, and how these differences translate into disease trends. They then focus on women's specific nutritional needs through the life cycle, the role of nutrition in risk reduction and treatment of conditions that particularly affect women, and areas for further research. The text includes evidence-based guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention in women, and concludes with recommendations for policymakers, industry, researchers, and health professionals and educators. The volume's subtitle was earlier announced as Sex-based Nutrition and Medicine. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Ordinary differential equations; introduction and qualitative theory, 3d ed.
Cronin (mathematics, Rutgers U.) ensures students build their understanding of core material by offering background information in the existence and properties of solutions, linear equations, autonomous equations and stability as well as more advanced work in periodic solutions of nonlinear equations. She begins with existence theorems, providing examples including the Volterra equations for predator-prey systems, the Hodgkin-Huxley equations, the Field-Noyes model for the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction and the Goodwin equations for a chemical reaction system. He proceeds to linear systems, including homogeneous linear equations, Flouquet theory and inhomogeneous linear equations, autonomous systems, including the Poincaré-Bendixson theorem and applications, stability, the Lyapunov second methods, periodic solutions, perturbation by the Poincaré methods and by autonomous systems and bifurcation problems, and the averaging method. Cronin has updated this text to provide detailed methods and examples. She recommends students complete the first semester of advanced calculus and a semester of linear algebra as prerequisites. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Packet forwarding technologies.
Wu (electronics and information engineering, Wuhan U. of Science and Technology) provides professionals and students what they need to design and develop Internet protocol (IP) routers with high-speed and high-capacity networking capabilities. With samples, simulations and illustrations he describes general bottlenecks and considerations, then he examines the concept of the IP-address lookup and routing table, classic schemers for linear search and caching (as well as binary, cache-compressed and dynamic tries), multibit tries, pipelined multibit tries, efficient data structures for "bursty" access patterns, caching technologies, hashing schemes, TCAM-based forwarding engines, and routing-table partitioning technologies. Wu provides references for each chapter. Distributed by Taylor & Francis. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Paramecium genetics and epigentics.
Honored and emeritus now, long-term researchers into the pathogenic protozoa here describe how it can be used as a model for studying both the simple Mendelian aspects of genetics and all other aspects of inheritance, conveniently bundled into the term epigenetics. They explain laboratory techniques for investigating such topics as genetic processes, mating types, microneuclei and macronuclei, cortical morphogenesis, and behavior. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Patterns for performance and operability; building and testing enterprise software.
Structured to follow the software lifecycle, this book gives advice on incorporating performance, operability, and other non-functional requirements into a project development lifecycle. Focus is on design, testing, and certification of applications for their target production environments. The first eight chapters focus on the planning through deployment phases. Later chapters examine common problems and project monitoring. A final chapter looks at impediments to good design that can limit non-functional requirements. The audience for the book includes anyone who has a lead architectural, design, or business role on a systems project, including those working on the project, project sponsors, or those directly benefiting from the results. Although the book is accessible to beginners and experts alike, it assumes some knowledge of the basic project development lifecycles and concepts of both functional and non-functional requirements. Ford is a consultant specializing in software systems for the financial services industry. The book is distributed in the US by Taylor & Francis. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Photonic signal processing; techniques and applications.
According to the author (director, Center for Telecommunications and Information Engineering, Monash U., Australia), photonic signal processing has the potential to overcome the electronic limits for processing ultra-wideband signals and also provides signal conditioning that can be integrated in-line with fiber optic systems. He wrote this book to address the emerging techniques of processing and manipulating of signals propagating in an optical domain. Over the course of six chapters he provides an introduction to the photonic components essential for photonic processing systems, discusses the representation of photonic circuits using signal-flow graph techniques, describes photonic signal processors such as differentiators and integrators, examines applications in the generation of solitons and in optically amplified fiber transmission systems, illustrates the compensation of dispersion using photonic processors, and explains the design of optical filters using photonic processing techniques. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
A practical approach to medical image processing. (CD-ROM included)
This volume reviews image processing, using an approach that does not focus on mathematical or computer science perspectives. Instead, it is practical and uses the software ImageJ to reinforce points and focuses on learning to use a complete image processing package that undergraduate and graduate students can apply in the future. The book is meant for courses in radiography, medical imaging, medical physics, and biomedical engineering, or for use by practitioners. It focuses on processing and does not discuss the principles of medical imaging. It also illustrates the features all digital images have in common, using examples from different modalities. Topics range from covering the basics, segmentation and classification, and image analysis operations, data formats and image compression, and visualization and 3-D methods. Case studies based on journal articles are presented, as well as a discussion of good practice. A CD-ROM is included, containing the Windows version of the ImageJ software, digital images, and documents for use with the practical activities in each chapter. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Practical manual of groundwater microbiology, 2d ed.
Microorganisms in groundwater can serve a number of useful purposes, including serving as natural filters for water wells, or they can have negative effects. Writing for those with little experience with microbiology, Cullimore (emeritus, engineering, U. of Regina, Canada) presents a review of the field of groundwater microbiology and its implications for the management of wells. He covers types of bacteria, molds, and viruses found in ground water; sampling procedures; biofoulin; biofilms; sequestration strategies; rehabilitation and regeneration practices; and flooding risks. He also includes an illustrated guide to some of the more important concepts of the field and appendices on microbiological test methods, biological activity reaction test methodologies, treatment strategies, sustainability of water wells, interaction between neighboring water wells, regulatory considerations, and other topics. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Principles and practice of bioanalysis, 2d ed.
Venn, formerly a research director for Pfizer, has edited and revised the second edition of this bioanalysis textbook to include more information about detectors and analytical methods, which have changed greatly in the 7 years since Principles and Practice of Bioanalysis was first published. Topics include sample preparation, HPLC practice and theory, optimization and detection and the fundamentals of mass spectrometry. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
A primer on wavelets and their scientific applications, 2d ed.
Walker (mathematics, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire) guides readers through the main ideas of wavelet analysis in order to develop a thorough appreciation of wavelet applications. Relying on elementary algebra and a small amount of calculus, he demonstrates how the underlying ideas behind wavelet analysis can be applied to solve significant problems in audio and image processing, biology, and medicine. Nearly twice as long as the first edition, this second edition of the book provides 104 worked examples and 222 exercises, two sections on bioorthogonal wavelets, a mini-course on image compression, expanded material on image denoising, an introduction to time frequency analysis, and expanded suggestions for research projects. A companion Web site, new for this edition, includes downloadable software, sound and image files, and links to important papers in the field. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Protein misfolding in neurodegenerative diseases; mechanisms and therapeutic strategies.
In this post-genome age, molecular and biochemical research appears to have the potential of offering significant new therapies for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Transmissable Spongiform Encephalitis. As research on protein folding, misfolding and aggregation continues it has become clear that misfolding is both a marker and causal agent and therefore holds promise as an avenue of treatment or cure. This collection of 14 extended articles describes the latest research, starting with work related to Alzheimer's disease, covering improving cholinergic transmission, reduction in plaque formation, carbonic anhydrase activators as potential anti-disease agents, detection and reduction of neurofibrillary lesions, protein folding as protection or pathogen, and the effects of the enhancement of brain retinoic acid levels. Those on Parkinson's disease include a survey and a paper on restoring dopamine levels, while those on other diseases include surveys of recent research. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Quantum computing; from linear algebra to physical realizations.
With both theory and experiments that progress in difficulty, Nakahara and Ohmi provide a classroom text instructors can use a full school year. They begin with background material on linear algebra and skill-building, with chapters on the basics of vectors and matrices, the framework of quantum mechanics, quibits and quantum key distribution, quantum gates and quantum circuits and their relation to quantum computing, simple quantum algorithms, quantum integral transforms, Grover's search algorithm, Shor's factorization algorithm, de-coherence, and quantum error correcting codes. They also cover physical systems that have the potential to work with quantum computers, and assess those systems by the DiVencenso criteria, covering NMR quantum computing, trapped ions, quantum with neutral atoms, Josephson junction quibits and quantum computing with quantum dots. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Quantum error correction and fault tolerant quantum computing.
Gaitan (Southern Illinois U.) discusses quantum error correction, and how its discovery led to the reality of quantum computation in modern computer science and mathematics. By using the accuracy threshold theorem that was first developed a decade ago, the author supplies 40 real world problems and 35 exercises designed to instruct any field researcher that is interested in this exciting new field, which was once deemed as an logistical impossibility. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Reliability technology, human error, and quality in health care.
Stating that some $9 billion is lost in productivity annually in the convoluted U.S. health care system, Dhillon (engineering management, U. of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) presents a synthesis of information from journal articles and other sources on reliability technology, human error, and quality control related to the human- technology interface in this system. Introductory chapters cover basic mathematical and other concepts requisite to understanding the topics discussed, which include safety analysis tools for medical devices, sources of error, computerized reporting systems and models for predicting reliability and error, and methods for improving the system (e.g., quality function deployment, cause- and-effect diagram). (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Remediation hydraulics.
Remediation hydraulics, which examines fluid movement within porous materials, is vital to many applications such as groundwater treatment. In this textbook, Payne, Quinnan and Potter (all hydrogeologists with ARCADIS) apply all known theories in the field to demonstrate how realistic assessments of fluid movement are assessed during these types of projects. An emphasis is placed on groundwater flow and contamination distribution in this volume, which has been written for fellow hydrogeologists in the field as well as advanced students. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
