Bücher veröffentlicht von IntechOpen

In this book, various aspects of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are investigated. HVAC systems are milestones of building mechanical systems that provide thermal comfort for occupants accompanied with indoor air quality. HVAC systems can be classified into central and local systems according to multiple zones, location, and distribution. Primary HVAC equipment includes heating equipment, ventilation equipment, and cooling or air-conditioning equipment. Central HVAC systems are located away from buildings in a central equipment room and deliver the conditioned air by a delivery ductwork system. Central HVAC systems contain all-air, air-water, or all-water systems. Two systems should be considered as central such as heating and cooling panels and water-source heat pumps.

It is stated that the concept of organizational culture reveals that the behavior of people in organizations is highly influenced by the established attitudes and values of their members, and objective characteristics of organizational culture are everything that exists regardless of its members' thoughts. A lot of researchers of organizational culture continue to look for answers about these relationships. Thus, organizational culture is a phenomenon that constantly receives both researchers' and practitioners' attention. This book supplies the reader with a comprehensive overview of the latest results of studies carried out by scientists from different countries. A lot of attention is given to role of national cultures, organizational culture as a determinant of competitiveness, organizational structures, model of culture for innovation, transformational leadership, leadership competencies, project activity etc.

The incidence of total hip arthroplasty is increasing in number because of successful outcomes. Although technically challenging, once mastered a hip replacement is one of the most gratifying surgeries for both patient and surgeon. This book covers some of the most important aspects of hip replacement surgery. These include preoperative planning, anesthesia, classification systems, management of proximal femur fractures, anterior approach, complications, and rehabilitation aspects of hip arthroplasty. The book is intended for arthroplasty surgeons, anesthetists, and physical therapists who will find the book useful in parts and as a whole if they deal with arthroplasty cases on a regular basis. Experience-based narration of various subjects by authors ensures that first-hand experience is passed on to readers in a simple, easy-to-understand manner.

Mobile internet data has the characteristics of large scale, variety of patterns, and complex association. On the one hand, it needs an efficient data processing model to provide support for data services, and, on the other hand, it needs certain computing resources to provide data security services. Due to the limited resources of mobile terminals, it is impossible to complete large-scale data computation and storage. However, outsourcing to third parties may cause risks in user privacy protection. This monograph focuses on key technologies of data service outsourcing and privacy protection, including the existing methods of data analysis and processing, fine-grained data access control through effective user privacy protection mechanisms, and data sharing in the mobile internet.

Ants play important roles in natural ecosystems. These eusocial insects are omnivorous feeders and live in a wide variety of habitats. They belong to the order Hymenoptera, and family Formicidae. There are more than 8800 described species that occur throughout the world. They have large heads, segmented antennae, and powerful jaws and undergo complete metamorphosis. In general, ants live typically in structured nest communities, forming nest sites in close proximity to moisture and food, underground, in ground-level mounds, or in trees. Among ant species, there is a wide range of interesting behaviors displayed. Many species are mutualistic, where they develop interactions with other insects and/or plants. Other species display parasitic relationships among each other. Still other species exhibit predatory behaviors. This book contains contributions written by experts in their respective fields and targets a wide audience. It is highly recommended as a valuable resource for general biologists, entomologists, ecologists, zoologists, and students and teachers in training in this subject matter.

Management functions were developed first as a systematic step to carry out management activities, while implementation of the information components followed as part of management elements. The authors point out that the use of the possibilities and advantages of quantitatively supported managerial decisions gives managers the ability to quantify the impacts of both technical (hard) and subjective (soft) constraints and improve managerial decision-making processes that would otherwise be based mostly on personal intuition and experience. To achieve the goals and benefits of excellent performance, it is necessary to design and develop integrated models that would coordinate management functions and information system components as an integrated process. These facts are presented in various case studies.

Organochlorines (OC) are organic molecules with chlorine in their structure. There is a large number of organochlorine compounds known. Large amounts of chlorinated organic compounds are produced for industrial, agricultural, pharmaceutical, household purposes, etc. In many studies, the main focus is on OC that have been evaluated as environmental contaminants with toxic effects on humans. Different types of organochlorines have been produced throughout the world. Some of the most popular classes are organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, chlorobenzenes, chlorophenols, chlorinated alkanes, etc. Organochlorine compounds are very stable. Generally, they are molecules of moderate polarity (low solubility in water). This makes OCs easily soluble in fats. They are found in almost all environments: air, water, soil, sediments and biota samples. They can spread out easily in different geographic altitudes and latitudes. Volatile and semi-volatile OCs have the ability to travel far distances from the place where they were used. Some studies have reported some organochlorines in the North Pole at the same levels as the areas where they were produced or applied. They have the ability to bioaccumulate easily in biota. Passing through the food chain levels, they increase their concentrations (biomagnifying). The main access pathways for OCs to the human body are through foods and exposures. Generally, they display their effects after a relatively long period of exposure. This is the main reason why they were produced and used for a long time before their production and use was banned. The most important health effects that organochlorines can cause are: mutagenic, endocrine-disruptor, carcinogenic and central nervous or peripheral disorders. After identification of the consequences, production of OCs and use was banned in many countries but their effects are still being seen many years later.

Reimagining new approaches in teacher professional development is the focus of this book. It looks at different perspectives of teacher professional development. Most chapters directly or indirectly present and discuss new approaches in teacher professional development in general. The purpose of the book is to inform readers that there are new ways of developing teachers professionally, and to equip readers with the skills needed to teach or behave in a professional manner. The book aims at providing new knowledge about professional development to academics, universities, education authorities, teachers, parents, and governing body members. The authors have diverse perspectives about the issues or aspects pertaining to teacher professional development.

The autonomic nervous system is one of the most important involuntary control mechanisms that primarily controls and modulates the functions of the visceral organs. The book discusses some of the specificities of the autonomic nervous system in terms of dendritic development in the sympathetic compartment, as well as a detailed description of noradrenergic groups and their key role in the modulation of all antinociceptive and autonomic responses elicited by painful or threatening situations. In the book, only those cases are mentioned that are closely related to disorders or changes of function of the autonomic nervous system. This book can evoke interest in many researchers who want to use the information for the advancement of their research towards a better understanding of the autonomic regulatory mechanisms.

Nowadays, scientific research deals with alternative solutions for creating non-traditional computing systems, such as neural network architectures where the stochastic nature and live dynamics of memristive models play a key role. The features of memristors make it possible to direct processing and analysis of both biosystems and systems driven by artificial intelligence, as well as develop plausible physical models of spiking neural networks with self-organization. This book deals with advanced applications illustrating these concepts, and delivers an important contribution for the achievement of the next generation of intelligent hybrid biostructures. Different modeling and simulation tools can deliver an alternative to funding the theoretical approach as well as practical implementation of memristive systems.

Germanium is an elemental semiconductor, which played an important role in the birth of the semiconductor but soon was replaced with silicon. However, germanium is poised to make a remarkable comeback in the semiconductor industry. With this increasing attention, this book describes the fundamental aspects of germanium and its applications. The contributing authors are experts in their field with great in-depth knowledge. The authors strongly feel that this contribution might be of interest to readers and help to expand the scope of their knowledge.

Like management of disease, management of pain is as old as the human race. When patients come to us with their pain, they present us with a wonderful opportunity: the chance to understand them, to understand how their pain is affecting their lives, the challenge of discovering what is causing their pain, and finally the opportunity to prescribe medications and lifestyle changes to help them gain relief from their pain. It is hoped that this book will provide the latest evidence-based updates on pain management in special circumstances and will serve as a ready reference for those embarking on pain management. Its intent is not to be a heavy book that can only be stored on a bookshelf, but a pocket-sized reference that can be carried, be easily navigated, and be available whenever a conceptual gap compromises pain physicians and their ability to treat their patients.