Springer Nature (Germany)

"This volume is intended for advanced undergraduate or first-year graduate students as an introduction to applied nonlinear dynamics and chaos. The author has placed emphasis on teaching the techniques and ideas that will enable students to take specific dynamical systems and obtain some quantitative information about the behavior of these systems. He has included the basic core material that is necessary for higher levels of study and research. Thus, people who do not necessarily have an extensive mathematical background, such as students in engineering, physics, chemistry, and biology, will find this text as useful as will students of mathematics."--BOOK JACKET.

1: Principles of Bootstrap Methodology.- 2: Principles of Edgeworth Expansion.- 3: An Edgeworth View of the Bootstrap.- 4: Bootstrap Curve Estimation.- 5: Details of Mathematical Rigour.- Appendix I: Number and Sizes of Atoms of Nonparametric Bootstrap Distribution.- Appendix II: Monte Carlo Simulation.- II.1 Introduction.- II.2 Uniform Resampling.- II.3 Linear Approximation.- II.4 Centring Method.- II.5 Balanced Resampling.- II.6 Antithetic Resampling.- II.7 Importance Resampling.- II.7.1 Introduction.- II.7.2 Concept of Importance Resampling.- II.7.3 Importance Resampling for Approximating Bias, Variance, Skewness, etc..- II.7.4 Importance Resampling for a Distribution Function.- II.8 Quantile Estimation.- Appendix III: Confidence Pictures.- Appendix IV: A Non-Standard Example: Quantite Error Estimation.- IV. 1 Introduction.- IV.2 Definition of the Mean Squared Error Estimate.- IV.3 Convergence Rate of the Mean Squared Error Estimate.- IV.4 Edgeworth Expansions for the Studentized Bootstrap Quantile Estimate.- Appendix V: A Non-Edgeworth View of the Bootstrap.- References.- Author Index.

The regulation of the serine-threonine kinase Akt by lipid products of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) was investigated. Akt activity was found to correlate with the amount of phosphatidylinositol-3,4-bisphosphate (PtdIns-3,4-P2) in vivo, and synthetic PtdIns-3,4-P2 activated Akt both in vitro and in vivo. Binding of PtdIns-3,4-P2 occurred within the Akt pleckstrin homology (PH) domain and facilitated dimerization of Akt. Akt mutated in the PH domain was not activated by PI 3-kinase in vivo or by PtdIns-3, 4-P2 in vitro, and it was impaired in binding to PtdIns-3,4-P2. Examination of the binding to other phosphoinositides revealed that they bound to the Akt PH domain with much lower affinity than did PtdIns-3,4-P2 and failed to increase Akt activity. Thus, Akt is apparently regulated by the direct interaction of PtdIns-3,4-P2 with the Akt PH domain.

The appearance of this book is quite timely as it provides a much needed state-of-the-art exposition on fault detection and diagnosis, a topic of much interest to industrialists. The material included is well organized with logical and clearly identified parts; the list of references is quite comprehensive and will be of interest to readers who wish to explore a particular subject in depth.

ABSTRACT Trading losses associated with information asymmetries can be mitigated by designing securities which split the cash flows of underlying assets. These securities, which can arise endogenously, have values that do not depend on the information known only to informed agents. Bank debt (deposits) is an example of this type of liquid security which protect relatively uninformed agents, and we provide a rationale for deposit insurance in this content. High‐grade corporate debt and government bonds are other examples, implying that a money market mutual fund‐based payments system may be an alternative to one based on insured bank deposits.

Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is an approach to compute turbulent flows based on resolving the unsteady large-scale motion of the fluid while the impact of the small-scale turbulence on the large scales is accounted for by a sub-grid scale model. This model distinguishes LES from any other method and reduces the computational demands compared with a Direct Numerical Simulation. On the other hand, the cost typically is still at least an order of magnitude larger than for steady Reynolds-averaged computations. The LES approach is attractive when statistical turbulence models fail, when insight into the vortical dynamics or unsteady forces on a body is desired, or when additional features are involved such as large-scale mixing, particle transport, sound generation etc. In recent years the rapid increase of computer power has made LES accessible to a broader scientific community, and this is reflected in an abundance of papers on the method and its applications. Still, however, some fundamental aspects of LES are not conclusively settled, a fact residing in the intricate coupling between mathematical, physical, numerical and algorithmic issues. In this situation it is of great importance to gain an overview of the available approaches and techniques.

Introduction to Survival Analysis.- Kaplan-Meier Survival Curves and the Log-Rank Test.- The Cox Proportional Hazards Model and Its Characteristics.- Evaluating the Proportional Hazards Assumption.- The Stratified Cox Procedure.- Extension of the Cox Proportional Hazards Model for Time-Dependent Variables.- Parametric Survival Models.- Recurrent Events Survival Analysis.- Competing Risks Survival Analysis.

Based on the author's lectures at the University of Bonn in 1983-84, this book introduces classical scattering theory and the time-dependent theory of linear equations in mathematical physics. Topics include proof of the existence of wave operators, some special equations of mathematical physics, exterior boundary value problems, radiation conditions, and limiting absorption principles. 1986 edition.

The story of Shuji Nakamura and the blue laser diode is remarkable. It is clear from this book that he enjoys this fact and wishes his readers to become familiar with his success. Nakamura was a little known researcher at a small but successful Japanese company, Nichia Chemical, on Shikoku, one of Japan's four main islands. One of their successful lines was phosphors for fluorescent lights. In 1989, Nakamura was given a few million dollars by the company's Chairman Nobuo Ogawa. Nakamura chose to research into blue light emitters using gallium nitride, a material that had been studied by Pankove at RCA some 20 years earlier and largely written off by the conventional semiconductor industry. In spite of many factors against progress, this second edition ofThe Blue Laser Diode testifies to the success of this gamble.

An algorithm is described for obtaining an optimal approximation, using triangulation, of a three-dimensional surface defined by randomly distributed points along contour lines. The combinatorial problem of finding the best arrangement of triangles is treated by assuming an adequate objective function. The optimal triangulation is found using classical methods of graph theory. An illustrative example gives the procedure for triangulation of contour lines of a human head for use in radiation therapy planning.

Many engineers, working in the field of automotive control systems and mechatronics, as well as lecturing at technical universities, will welcome this book. It gives a broad insight view of the latest automotive technologies in use which have been adopted over a long period of time from research activities at universities and in industry. About twenty years ago the microcomputer started to revolutionize the possibility of introducing intelligence in systems, for example in the form of advanced control algorithms. By chance, this incredible evolution coincided with increasing environmental demands to reduce pollution and oil consumption and to contribute one of the major tools to meet those demands. This may have been one of the reasons why the automotive industry was rather early in introducing the new technique. However, it would have been interesting if the book had given a short historic review. In fact the authors do not rule out that the modern four-stroke engine in a car may work as an air-cleaning filter, and after going through the part describing the lambda-control together with the catalytic conversion, it is hard to argue against it, at least when the vehicle is running at constant speed. Reading this book you realize that the times are long gone when you could use a screwdriver and feeler gauge to adjust the ignition of your car engine.

The book Plasma Kinetics in Atmospheric Gases is a worthwhile contribution to the basic phenomena in nitrogen, oxygen and other atmospheric gases. It contains basic introductory chapters on relaxation in translational, rotational (short) and vibrational (extensive) distribution and on the physics of electron excitation and electron distribution functions. In the latter, electron beam excitation (i.e. high electron energies) are included. In the following chapters, much detail follows on spectroscopic constants of various molecules, molecular fragments and ions, on transport coefficients such as diffusion coefficients, relaxation times and rates. The transfer between translational energies and rotational and vibrational energies are treated in this context. Many (electron) excitation rates, electronic lifetimes and rates for chemical reactions for molecules, fragments and ions are given. The background part of the book is completed with an introductory chapter on wall reactions and accommodation coefficients. In this way an enormous wealth of data for nitrogen-, oxygen- and hydrogen-containing molecules can be found in this book.

Various theories have been proposed to explain increases in muscle extensibility observed after intermittent stretching. Most of these theories advocate a mechanical increase in length of the stretched muscle. More recently, a sensory theory has been proposed suggesting instead that increases in muscle extensibility are due to a modification of sensation only. Studies that evaluated the biomechanical effect of stretching showed that muscle length does increase during stretch application due to the viscoelastic properties of muscle. However, this length increase is transient, its magnitude and duration being dependent upon the duration and type of stretching applied. Most of these studies suggest that increases in muscle extensibility observed after a single stretching session and after short-term (3- to 8-week) stretching programs are due to modified sensation. The biomechanical effects of long-term (>8 weeks) and chronic stretching programs have not yet been evaluated. The purposes of this article are to review each of these proposed theories and to discuss the implications for research and clinical practice.

This book is the second edition of a textbook published in 1996 by McGraw Hill and originates from a graduate level course given by the authors at the University of Naples. The topics include kinematics, statics and dynamics of robot manipulators together with trajectory planning and active control. There are only minor additions the first edition, which are mainly the use of quaternion to describe the orientation of the end effector and a short description of a closed chain architecture for a manipulator (parallelogram arm). The book is largely devoted to serial manipulators, with special developments about active control including adaptative control, robust controls and stability analysis. Another strength of this book is the great number of problems proposed at the end of each chapter, together with a list of references related to it. The fundamental features covered by the text are illustrated on simple examples of serial manipulators (two-link planar arm, parallelogram arm) including analytical results and numerical tests.

Computer algebra is an alternative and complement to numerical mathematics. Its importance is steadily increasing. This volume is the first systematic and complete treatment of computer algebra. It presents the basic problems of computer algebra and the best algorithms now known for their solution with their mathematical foundations, and complete references to the original literature. The volume follows a top-down structure proceeding from very high-level problems which will be well-motivated for most readers to problems whose solution is needed for solving the problems at the higher level. The volume is written as a supplementary text for a traditional algebra course or for a general algorithms course. It also provides the basis for an independent computer algebra course.

The dynamics of modern economic systems since the Industrial Revolution show that permanent changes in the absolute levels of some basic magnitudes (such as gross national product, total consumption, total investments, total employment, etc.) are inherently associated with changes in their composition; that is, with structural change.

This monograph is intended to be a reasonably self -contained and fairly complete exposition of rigorous results in abstract kinetic theory. Throughout, abstract kinetic equations refer to (an abstract formulation of) equations which describe transport of particles, momentum, energy, or, indeed, any transportable physical quantity. These include the equations of traditional (neutron) transport theory, radiative transfer, and rarefied gas dynamics, as well as a plethora of additional applications in various areas of physics, chemistry, biology and engineering. The mathematical problems addressed within the monograph deal with existence and uniqueness of solutions of initial-boundary value problems, as well as questions of positivity, continuity, growth, stability, explicit representation of solutions, and equivalence of various formulations of the transport equations under consideration. The reader is assumed to have a certain familiarity with elementary aspects of functional analysis, especially basic semigroup theory, and an effort is made to outline any more specialized topics as they are introduced. Over the past several years there has been substantial progress in developing an abstract mathematical framework for treating linear transport problems. The benefits of such an abstract theory are twofold: (i) a mathematically rigorous basis has been established for a variety of problems which were traditionally treated by somewhat heuristic distribution theory methods; and (ii) the results obtained are applicable to a great variety of disparate kinetic processes. Thus, numerous different systems of integrodifferential equations which model a variety of kinetic processes are themselves modelled by an abstract operator equation on a Hilbert (or Banach) space.

The study of the relationship between market structure and innovation by economists is a relatively recent phenomenon that can be traced back to the mid-1950s. Prior to that time the bulk of economic analysis took the number of products and their means of production as determined exogenously, just as consumers’ tastes were taken as an exogenous given. With a few exceptions, economists appeared to be unconcerned with the economic incentives that determined the pace and direction of innovation despite the fact that this activity had begun to be institutionalized about 1876, when industrial research laboratories began to be established both in the United States and in Europe. The exceptions include Taussig (1915), Hicks (1932), Galbraith (1952), and most importantly Schumpeter (1961, 1964, 1975). It was Schumpeter who argued most persuasively that it was competition through introduction of new products and methods of production that was far more important than price competition, in the long run. For it was through innovative activity that economic development that resulted in higher per capita income took place.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is an early sign of many neurodegenerative diseases. Very recently, two Parkinson disease (PD) associated genes, PINK1 and Parkin, were shown to mediate the degradation of damaged mitochondria via selective autophagy (mitophagy). PINK1 kinase activity is needed for prompt and efficient Parkin recruitment to impaired mitochondria. PD-associated Parkin mutations interfere with the process of mitophagy at distinct steps. Here we show that whole mitochondria are turned over via macroautophagy. Moreover, disease-associated PINK1 mutations also compromise the selective degradation of depolarized mitochondria. This may be due to the decreased physical binding activity of PD-linked PINK1 mutations to Parkin. Thus, PINK1 mutations abrogate autophagy of impaired mitochondria upstream of Parkin. In addition to compromised PINK1 kinase activity, reduced binding of PINK1 to Parkin leads to failure in Parkin mitochondrial translocation, resulting in the accumulation of damaged mitochondria, which may contribute to disease pathogenesis.

Many cardiovascular drugs have been implicated as causes of depression. With the exception of beta-blockers, few have been studied in formal epidemiologic designs. I present a new approach to such analyses that effectively controls for confounders that are stable over time. I analyzed the exposure histories of 11,244 incident antidepressant users, using the Odense University PharmacoEpidemiologic Database. All persons starting both beta-blockers and antidepressants during a predefined period were identified. If beta-blockers do not cause depression, this particular population should show equal numbers of persons starting either drug first. A depression-provoking effect of beta-blockers would generate an excess of persons starting beta-blockers first, that is a nonsymmetrical distribution of prescription orders. Confounders causing the two drugs to be co-prescribed would rarely be expected to affect the symmetry. The initial screening showed nonsymmetrical prescription orders for a wide range of cardiovascular drugs. After adjustment for an increasing incidence of antidepressant prescribing, I found a depression-provoking effect only for angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (rate ratio = 1.29; 95% confidence interval = 1.08-1.56) and calcium channel blockers (rate ratio = 1.31; 95% confidence interval = 1.14-1.51). This prescription sequence symmetry analysis may be useful as a screening tool.