Bücher veröffentlicht von Morgan & Claypool Publishers

Classically, the central nervous system (CNS) was considered to contain neurons and three main types of glial cells-astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and microglia. Now, it has been clearly established that NG2-glia are a fourth glial cell type that are identified and defined by their expression of the NG2 chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (Cspg4).

Hypertension is defined by an increase in systemic blood pressure above limits considered normal. In this work, rather than providing the exhaustive list of modifications in the blood pressure regulating systems that ultimately affect the vasculature in hypertension, we will focus on the structural and functional alterations of vascular smooth muscle per se during hypertension.

A short primer on chemical reaction rates based on a six-lecture first-year undergraduate course taught by the author at the University of Oxford. The book explores the various factors that determine how fast or slowly a chemical reaction proceeds and describes a variety of experimental methods for measuring reaction rates.

Examines the origin of the molecular architecture of crystals; a topic that is becoming increasingly important and is often termed, crystal engineering. Such studies are a means of predicting crystal structures, and of designing crystals with particular properties by manipulating the structure and interaction of large molecules.

Janus, the ancient Roman god depicted with two faces is an appropriate metaphor for light therapy. In the right photodynamic therapy conditions, light is able to kill nearly anything that is living. On the opposite face, light of the correct wavelength and proper dose can heal, regenerate, protect, revitalize and restore. This book discusses both sides of Janus' face in regards to light therapy.

Reviews important aspects of polycystic kidney diseases, the latest scientific understanding of the diseases and syndromes, along with the therapies being developed. Cystic kidney diseases comprise a spectrum of genetic syndromes defined by renal cyst formation and expansion with variable extrarenal manifestations. The most prevalent disorder is the autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a complex and dynamic structure that protects the brain from cells within the vasculature, from the immune system and from pathogens. This book focuses on various aspects that account for the formation and maintenance of the BBB, and on disease states that compromise this barrier.

In the 116 year history of the Nobel Prize in Physics, only two women have won the award - Marie Curie (1903) and Maria Mayer (1963). During the 60 years between those awards, several women did work of similar calibre. This book focuses on those women, providing biographies for each that discuss both how they made their discoveries and the gender-specific reception of those discoveries.

Offers an introduction to quantum information with special emphasis on continuous-variable systems (such as light) which can be described as collections of harmonic oscillators. It covers a selection of basic concepts, focusing on their physical meaning and mathematical treatment. This is an excellent reference for students and researchers.

This volume is a basic introduction to certain aspects of elliptic functions and elliptic integrals. Primarily, the elliptic functions stand out as closed solutions to a class of physical and geometrical problems giving rise to nonlinear differential equations. While these nonlinear equations may not be the types of greatest interest currently, the fact that they are solvable exactly in terms of functions about which much is known makes up for this. The elliptic functions of Jacobi, or equivalently the Weierstrass elliptic functions, inhabit the literature on current problems in condensed matter and statistical physics, on solitons and conformal representations, and all sorts of famous problems in classical mechanics. The lectures on elliptic functions have evolved as part of the first semester of a course on theoretical and mathematical methods given to first and second year graduate students in physics and chemistry at the University of North Dakota. They are for graduate students or for researchers who want an elementary introduction to the subject that nevertheless leaves them with enough of the details to address real problems. The style is supposed to be informal. The intention is to introduce the subject as a moderate extension of ordinary trigonometry in which the reference circle is replaced by an ellipse. This entre depends upon fewer tools and has seemed less intimidating that other typical introductions to the subject that depend on some knowledge of complex variables. The first three lectures assume only calculus, including the chain rule and elementary knowledge of differential equations. In the later lectures, the complex analytic properties are introduced naturally so that a more complete study becomes possible.

Jet physics is an incredibly rich subject detailing the narrow cone of hadrons and other particles produced by the hadronization of a quark or gluon in a particle physics or heavy ion experiment. This book is a general overview of jet physics for scientists not directly involved in the field. It presents the basic experimental and theoretical problems arising when dealing with jets, and describing the solutions proposed in recent years.

Focuses on the role of the endocannabinoid system in local and systemic inflammation, with individual chapters written by experts in the field of cannabinoid research and medicine. The topics explore the actions of the endocannabinoid system on the immune system, including neuroinflammation in autoimmune disorders and in neurodegenerative disorders.

This is an in-depth look at baryon number violation in the Standard Model including the necessary background in finite temperature field theory, plasma dynamics and how to calculate the out of equilibrium evolution of particle number densities throughout a phase transition. It is a self-contained pedagogical review of the theoretical background to electroweak baryogenesis as well as a summary of the other prevailing mechanisms for producing the asymmetry between matter and antimatter using the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model as a pedagogical tool whenever appropriate.

This book proposes an architecture for cluster computing systems that can tackle emerging data processing workloads at scale. Whereas early cluster computing systems, like MapReduce, handled batch processing, our architecture also enables streaming and interactive queries, while keeping MapReduce's scalability and fault tolerance.

Adolescent brain development is a fascinating, newly developing field that has so much to offer almost anyone interested in learning more. In this book, the authors compare adolescent behavioural changes with ongoing changes in the brain and discuss potential implications for health and educational policy-making.

Describes in detail what is known about the electrostatic environment of the solar system from early and current experiments on Earth as well as what is being learned from the instrumentation on the space exploration missions (NASA, European Space Agency, and the Japanese Space Agency) of the last few decades. It begins with a brief review of the basic principles of electrostatics.

This book is written for students and other interested readers as a look inside the diverse range of applications for physics outside of the scientific research environment. This first volume covers several different areas of the arts and design ranging from stage lighting to sculpting. The author has interviewed experts in each area to explain how physics and technology impact their work. These are all useful examples of how physics encountered in taught courses relates to the real world.

This book provides a broad introductory survey of this remarkable field, aiming to establish and clearly differentiate its physical principles, and also to provide a snapshot portrait of many of the most prominent current applications. Primary emphasis is placed on developing an understanding of the fundamental photonic origin behind the mechanism that operates in each type of effect. To this end, the first few chapters introduce and develop core theory, focusing on the physical significance and source of the most salient parameters, and revealing the detailed interplay between the key material and optical properties. Where appropriate, both classical and photonic (quantum mechanical) representations are discussed. The number of equations is purposely kept to a minimum, and only a broad background in optical physics is assumed.With copious examples and illustrations, each of the subsequent chapters then sets out to explain and exhibit the main features and uses of the various distinct types of mechanism that can be involved in optical nanomanipulation, including some of the very latest developments. To complete the scene, we also briefly discuss applications to larger, biological particles. Overall, this book aims to deliver to the non-specialist an amenable introduction to the technically more advanced literature on individual manipulation methods. Full references to the original research papers are given throughout, and an up-to-date bibliography is provided for each chapter, which directs the reader to other selected, more specialised sources.

The bicycle is a common, yet unique mechanical contraption in our world. In spite of this, the bike's physical and mechanical principles are understood by a select few. You do not have to be a genius to join this small group of people who understand the physics of cycling. This is your guide to fundamental principles, providing intuitive, basic explanations for the bicycle's behaviour.

What does it take to consider a planet potentially habitable? If a planet is suitable for life, could life be present? Is life on other planets inevitable? Searching for Habitable Worlds answers these questions and provides both the general public and astronomy enthusiasts with a richly illustrated discussion of the most current knowledge regarding the search for extrasolar planets.

Provides a rigorous macroscopic description of the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and structures containing graphene sheets (two-dimensional structures). It presents canonical problems with translational invariant geometries, in which the solution of the original vectorial problem can be reduced to the treatment of two scalar problems, corresponding to two basic polarization modes.

Searching for Dark Matter with Cosmic Gamma Rays summarizes the evidence for dark matter and what we can learn about its particle nature using cosmic gamma rays. It has almost been 100 years since Fritz Zwicky first detected hints that most of the matter in the Universe that doesn't directly emit or reflect light. Since then, the observational evidence for dark matter has continued to grow. Dark matter may be a new kind of particle that is governed by physics beyond our Standard Model of particle physics. In many models, dark matter annihilation or decay produces gamma rays. There are a variety of instruments observing the gamma-ray sky from tens of MeV to hundreds of TeV. Some make deep, focused observations of small regions, while others provide coverage of the entire sky. Each experiment offers complementary sensitivity to dark matter searches in a variety of target sizes, locations, and dark matter mass scales. We review results from recent gamma-ray experiments including anomalies some have attributed to dark matter. We also discuss how our gamma-ray observations complement other dark matter searches and the prospects for future experiments.

This book explains the Lorentz mathematical group in a language familiar to physicists. While the three-dimensional rotation group is one of the standard mathematical tools in physics, the Lorentz group of the four-dimensional Minkowski space is still very strange to most present-day physicists. It plays an essential role in understanding particles moving at close to light speed and is becoming the essential language for quantum optics, classical optics, and information science. The book is based on papers and books published by the authors on the representations of the Lorentz group based on harmonic oscillators and their applications to high-energy physics and to Wigner functions applicable to quantum optics. It also covers the two-by-two representations of the Lorentz group applicable to ray optics, including cavity, multilayer and lens optics, as well as representations of the Lorentz group applicable to Stokes parameters and the Poincar sphere on polarization optics.

Biophotonic diagnostics/biomedical spectroscopy can revolutionise the medical environment by providing a responsive and objective diagnostic environment. This book aims to explain the fundamentals of the physical techniques used combined with the particular requirements of analysing medical/clinical samples as a resource for any interested party. In addition, it will show the potential of this field for the future of medical science and act as a driver for translation across many different biological problems/questions.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a disease encompassing a group of disorders mainly characterized by bone fragility and is the commonest form of heritable bone fragility. In this book, the clinical presentations with particular emphasis on rare phenotypes associated with OI are discussed together with molecular advances in diagnosis and treatment of OI.

Discusses our intimate relationship with and dependence on water, how the body regulates its water levels, and various pathophysiological states associated with impairments in body water homeostasis. The human body consists of 70-80% water. Therefore, concise control of water homeostasis is essential to survival and involves coordination of several systems.

The purpose of this presentation is to provide basic information about the operation and regulation of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, as well as the properties of the blood and parenchymal cells, so that a fundamental understanding of the regulation of tissue oxygenation is achieved.