This book describes the development of portable, wearable, and highly customizable hand exoskeletons to aid patients suffering from hand disabilities. It presents an original approach for the design of human hand motion assistance devices that relies on (i) an optimization-based kinematic scaling procedure, which guarantees a significant adaptability to the user's hands motion, and (ii) a topology optimization-based design methodology, which allowed the design of a lightweight, comfortable device with a high level of performance. The book covers the whole process of hand exoskeleton development, from establishing a new design strategy, to the construction and testing of hand exoskeleton prototypes, using additive manufacturing techniques. As such, it offers timely information to both researchers and engineers developing human motion assistance systems, especially wearable ones.

This contributed volume is the first of a series that introduces safe, feasible, and practical decellularization and recellularization techniques for tissue and organ reconstruction. We have put special emphasis on the research areas most likely to develop well-engineered scaffolds for tissue and organ engineering, while presenting easily applicable bench-to-bedside approaches highlighting the latest technical innovations in the field. This book includes both a fundamental discussion for a broad understanding of the basis of tissue repair and substitution, as well as chapters written by world renowned specialists from 20 countries providing deeper discussions and analysis of related sub disciplines. Within these pages, the reader will find state-of-the-art protocols and current clinical challenges in cell and tissue biology, including accurate and comprehensive information on extracellular matrices, natural biomaterials, tissue dynamics, morphogenesis, stem cells, cellular fate progressions, cell and tissue properties for in-vitro and in-vivo applications. This comprehensive and carefully organized treatise provides a clear framework for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers new to the field, but also for researchers and practitioners looking to expand their knowledge on tissue and organ reconstruction.

This book contains original articles submitted to the Seventh International Conference on Cognitive Neurodynamics (ICCN 2019). The brain is an endless case study of a complex system characterized by multiple levels of integration, multiple time scales of activity, and multiple coding and decoding properties. The contribution of several disciplines, mathematics, physics, computer science, neurobiology, pharmacology, physiology, and behavioral and clinical sciences, is necessary in order to cope with such seemingly unattainable complexity that transforms the experimental information into a tricky puzzle which hides the correspondence with model predictions. This conference gathered active participants to discuss ideas and pose new questions from different viewpoints, ranging from single neurons and neural networks to animal/human behavior in theoretical and experimental studies. The conference is organized with plenary lectures, mini-symposia, interdisciplinary round tables, and oral and poster sessions.

This book describes the multitude of interactions between plant, soil, and micro-organisms. It emphasizes on how growth and development in plants, starting from seed germination, is heavily influenced by the soil type. It describes the interactions established by plants with soil and inhabitant microbial community. The chapters describe how plants selectively promote certain microorganisms in the rhizospheric ecozone to derive multifarious benefits such as nutrient acquisition and protection from diseases. The diversity of these rhizospheric microbes and their interactions with plants largely depend on plant genotype, soils attributes, and several abiotic and biotic factors. Most of the studies concerned with plant-microbe interaction are focused on temperate regions, even though the tropical ecosystems are more diverse and need more attention. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how soil type and climatic conditions influence the plant-soil-microbes interaction in the tropics. Considering the significance of the subject, the present volume is designed to cover the most relevant aspects of rhizospheric microbial interactions in tropical ecosystems. Chapters include aspects related to the diversity of rhizospheric microbes, as well as modern tools and techniques to assess the rhizospheric microbiomes and their functional roles. The book also covers applications of rhizospheric microbes and evaluation of prospects improving agricultural practice and productivity through the use of microbiome technologies. This book will be extremely interesting to microbiologists, plant biologists, and ecologists.

This book reports on cutting-edge findings and developments in physical, social and occupational ergonomics. It covers a broad spectrum of studies and evaluation procedures concerning physical and mental workload, work posture and ergonomic risk. Further, it reports on significant advances in the design of services and systems, including those addressing special populations, for purposes such as health, safety and education, and discusses solutions for a better and safer integration of humans, automated systems and digital technologies. The book also analyzes the impact of culture on people's cognition and behavior, providing readers with timely insights into theories on cross-cultural decision-making, and their diverse applications for a number of purposes in businesses and societies. Based on the AHFE 2021 conferences on Physical Ergonomics and Human Factors, Social & Occupational Ergonomics, and Cross-Cultural Decision Making, held virtually on 25-29 July, 2021, from USA, it provides readers with a comprehensive overview of the current challenges in physical, social and occupational ergonomics, including those imposed by technological developments, highlights key connections between them, and puts forward optimization strategies for sociotechnical systems, including their organizational structures, policies and processes.

This monograph offers a cross-system exchange and cross-modality investigation into brain-heart interplay. Brain-Heart Interplay (BHI) is a highly interdisciplinary scientific topic, which spreads from the physiology of the Central/Autonomous Nervous Systems, especially Central Autonomic Network, to advanced signal processing and modeling for its activity quantification. Motivated by clinical evidence and supported by recent findings in neurophysiology, this monograph first explores the definition of basic Brain-Heart Interplay quantifiers, and then moves onto advanced methods for the assessment of health and disease states. Non-invasive use of brain monitoring techniques, including electroencephalogram and function Magnetic Resonance Imaging, will be described together with heartbeat dynamics monitoring through pulseoximeter and ECG signals. The audience of this book comprises especially of biomedical engineers and medical doctors with expertise in statistics and/or signal processing. Researchers in the fields of cardiology, neurology, psychiatry, and neuroscience in general may be interested as well.

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is one of the most significant areas of computational intelligence. This book focuses on the human emotion analysis aspects of HCI, highlighting innovative methodologies for emotion analysis by machines/computers and their application areas. The methodologies are presented with numerical results to enable researchers to replicate the work. This multidisciplinary book is useful to researchers and academicians, as well as students wanting to pursue a career in computational intelligence. It can also be used as a handbook, reference book, and a textbook for short courses.

This book presents innovative engineering solution for medical diagnosis, therapy and life science studies. Gathering the proceedings of the 3rd International Conference for Innovation in Biomedical Engineering and Life Sciences, ICIBEL 2020, held on December 6-7, 2019, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this book aims at informing on engineering tools and their clinical applications, and being a source of inspiration for future research and interdisciplinary collaborations.

This book covers the latest advances for the development of artificial intelligence systems and their applications in various fields from medicine and technology to education. The proceedings comprise refereed papers presented at the Fourth International Conference of Artificial Intelligence, Medical Engineering, Education (AIMEE2020), held at the Mechanical Engineering Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, in 3-4 October 2020. Given the rapid development of artificial intelligence systems, the book emphasizes the need for the intensification of training of a growing number of relevant specialists, in particular, in medical engineering to increase the effectiveness of medical diagnosing and treatment. In digital artificial intelligence systems, scientists endeavor to reproduce the innate intellectual abilities of human and other organisms, and the in-depth study of genetic systems and inherited biological processes can provide new approaches to create more and more effective artificial intelligence methods. Topics of the included papers concern thematic materials in the following spheres: mathematics and biomathematics; medical approaches; technological and educational approaches. The book is a compilation of state-of-the-art papers in the field, covering a comprehensive range of subjects that is relevant to business managers and engineering professionals alike. The breadth and depth of these proceedings make them an excellent resource for asset management practitioners, researchers, and academics, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in artificial intelligence and bioinformatics systems as well as their growing applications. Intended readership includes specialists, students, and other circles of readers who would like to know where artificial intelligence systems can be applied in the future with great benefit.

This thesis presents various applications of graphene-based nanomaterials, especially in biomedicine. Graphene and its derivatives have gained enormous attention from scientists in all fields of study due to many unprecedented properties. The initial scientific attention was focused on the development of transparent flexible electrodes by exploiting two-dimensional graphene film's extraordinary electrical and physical properties. Recently, given an increasing evidence of dispersed graphene-based nanomaterials' biocompatibility, researchers have endeavored to employ these materials in other studies relevant to biomedical technologies. In this respect, the thesis provides a comprehensive review on the synthesis, toxicity, and a few of the key biomedical applications in the first chapter. The following chapter discusses the use of a graphene film as a novel catalyst to oxidatively destroy phenols, which are known to be potentially mutagenic and carcinogenic. Finally, and most importantly, the last chapter introduces the therapeutic role of graphene quantum dots, the smallest graphene-based nanomaterials, for Parkinson's disease. The results are promising for the use of graphene quantum dots as the basis of future clinical drug candidates for neurodegenerative disorders.

Synthetic biology offers powerful remedies for some of the world's most intractable problems, but these solutions are clouded by uncertainty and risk that few strategies are available to address. The incentives for continued development of this emerging technology are prodigious and obvious, and the public deserves assurances that all potential downsides are duly considered and minimized accordingly. Incorporating social science analysis within the innovation process may impose constraints, but its simultaneous support in making the end products more acceptable to society at large should be considered a worthy trade-off. Contributing authors in this volume represent diverse perspectives related to synthetic biology's social sciences, and reflect on different areas of risk analysis and governance that have developed for the field. Such perspectives include leading scholarly discussion pertaining to risk assessment, governance, ethics, and communication. The chapters of this volume note that while the first twenty years of synthetic biology development have focused strongly on technological innovation and product development, the next twenty should emphasize the synergy between developers, policymakers, and publics to generate the most beneficial, well governed, and transparent technologies and products possible. Many chapters in this volume provide new data and approaches that demonstrate the feasibility for multi-stakeholder efforts involving policymakers, regulators, industrial developers, workers, experts, and societal representatives to share responsibilities in the production of effective and acceptable governance in the face of uncertain risk probabilities. A full consideration of such perspectives may prevent a world of draconian regulations based on an insufficient or incomplete understanding of the science that underpins synthetic biology, as well as any hesitancy or fear by the public to adopt its eventual products.

This book focuses on the application of nanotechnology in medicine and drug delivery, including diagnosis and therapy. Nanomedicine can contribute to the development of a personalized medicine both for diagnosis and therapy. By interacting with biological molecules at nanoscale level, nanotechnology opens up an immense field of research and applications. Interactions between artificial molecular assemblies or nanodevices and biomolecules can be understood both in the extracellular medium and inside human cells. Operating at nanoscale allows exploitation of physical properties different from those observed at microscale, such as the volume to surface area ratio. A number of clinical applications of nanobiotechnology, such as disease diagnosis, target-specific drug delivery, and molecular imaging are being investigated. Some promising new products are also undergoing clinical trials. Such advanced applications of this approach to biological systems will undoubtedly transform the foundations of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease in the future. Nanomedicine sales reached $16 billion in 2015, with a minimum of $3.8 billion in nanotechnology R&D being invested each year. Global funding for emerging nanotechnology increased by 45% per year in recent years, with product sales exceeding $1 trillion in 2013. As the nanomedicine industry continues to grow, it is expected to have a significant impact on the global economy. This book provides clear, colorful and simple illustrations, tables, and case studies to clearly convey the content to a general audience and reader. This book also discusses the development of nanobiomaterials from biogenic (biological sources) systems for healthcare and disease therapies. This book, therefore, is useful for researchers and academicians in the fields of nanotechnology, medicine, nano-biotechnology and pharmacology.

This edited book explores the use of technology to enable us to visualise the life sciences in a more meaningful and engaging way. It will enable those interested in visualisation techniques to gain a better understanding of the applications that can be used in visualisation, imaging and analysis, education, engagement and training. The reader will also be able to learn about the use of visualisation techniques and technologies for the historical and forensic settings. The reader will be able to explore the utilisation of technologies from a number of fields to enable an engaging and meaningful visual representation of the biomedical sciences. The chapters presented in this volume cover such a diverse range of topics, with something for everyone. We present here chapters on technology enhanced learning in neuroanatomy; 3D printing and surgical planning; changes in higher education utilising technology, decolonising the curriculum and visual representations of the human body in education. We also showcase how not to use protective personal equipment inspired by the pandemic; anatomical and historical visualisation of obstetrics and gynaecology; 3D modelling of carpal bones and augmented reality for arachnid phobias for public engagement. In addition, we also present face modelling for surgical education in a multidisciplinary setting, military medical museum 3D digitising of historical pathology specimens and finally computational fluid dynamics.

This monograph sketches out a broad spectrum of problems (from evolution and metabolism to morphogenesis and biogeographical dynamics) whose solution has been impacted by mathematical models. Each of the selected examples has led to the recognition-and set direction to further study-of certain fundamental but unintuitive properties of biological systems, such as the making and breaking of specific symmetries that underlie morphogenesis. Whether they are long-established or only recently accepted, these models are selected for being thought-provoking and illuminating both the achievements and the gaps in our current understanding of the given area of biology. The selection of models is also meant to bring to the fore the existing degree of unity in the quantitative approach to diverse general-biological questions and in the systems-level properties that are discovered across the levels of biological organization. It is the thesis of this book that further cultivation of such unity is a way forward as we progress toward a general theory of living matter. This is an ideal book for students (in the broadest sense) of biology who wish to learn from this attempt to present the exemplary models, their methodological lessons, and the outline of a unified theory of living matter that is now beginning to emerge. In addition to a doctoral student preparing for quantitative biology research, this reader could also be an interdisciplinary scientist transitioning to biology. The latter-for example, a physicist or an engineer-may be comfortable with the mathematical apparatus and prepared to quickly enter the intended area of work, but desires a broader foundation in biology from the quantitative perspective.

The origins of tinnitus and the development of effective treatments to treat tinnitus have puzzled scientists and clinicians for centuries. Now ground breaking research is beginning to unlock its secrets. The Behavioral Neuroscience of Tinnitus provides critical and comprehensive discussions of the most recent developments in behavioral neuroscience research of tinnitus. Each chapter represents the most important contemporary account of the subject, with an emphasis on preclinical and clinical trials for the development of new diagnostics and therapeutics. New and emerging innovative approaches are covered whenever possible. Six topics are discussed in detail in this volume, which provide new insights in the etiology and mechanisms of tinnitus, new biomarkers towards objective and reliable diagnosis of tinnitus, pharmacological approaches towards curing tinnitus, bioengineering advances towards developing effective medical devices, as well as the latest in psychotherapy methods. The reviews in the volume expose researchers and clinicians, both new and experienced, to exciting advancements and state-of-the-art developments from preeminent researchers in the field of tinnitus.

This book offers a snapshot of cutting-edge applications of mobile sensing for digital phenotyping in the field of Psychoinformatics. The respective chapters, written by authoritative researchers, cover various aspects related to the use of these technologies in health, education, and cognitive science research. They share insights both into established applications of mobile sensing (such as predicting personality or mental and behavioral health on the basis of smartphone usage patterns) and emerging trends. Machine learning and deep learning approaches are discussed, and important considerations regarding privacy risks and ethical issues are assessed. In addition to essential background information on various technologies and theoretical methods, the book also presents relevant case studies and good scientific practices, thus addressing researchers and professionals alike. To cite Thomas R. Insel, who wrote the foreword to this book: "Patients will only use digital phenotyping if it solves a problem, perhaps a digital smoke alarm that can prevent a crisis. Providers will only use digital phenotyping if it fits seamlessly into their crowded workflow. If we can earn public trust, there is every reason to be excited about this new field. Suddenly, studying human behavior at scale, over months and years, is feasible."

Explore important research approaches and concepts within diagnostic radiography Provide contemporary evidence-based practice regarding mixed method approaches Provide a clear and 'how to guide' for understanding key research principles in a wide range of radiographic settings Evaluate the impact of research on patients and the radiographer-patient relationship

This volume is devoted to compounds in which the spiro centre is part of a pyranoid or furanoid or an iminosugar ring. The chapters contributed deal with methodological peculiarities of syntheses of natural and artificial sugar derived spirocycles as well as their biological applications and other utilities including marketed drugs. Carbohydrates are ubiquitous molecules in nature and participate in a vast number of biological interactions. Especially their conjugates with practically all kinds of primary and secondary metabolic small molecules (and also biomacromolecules) representing valuable tools for glycobiology research and also lead compounds for drug discovery. While monosaccharides per se appear as heterocycles, their natural conjugates frequently exhibit spiro(hetero)cyclic derivatives, in many cases of high therapeutical relevance. As a consequence, the field of carbohydrate-spiro-heterocycles attracts intense interest from both chemical and biomedical aspects therefore this volume will be of interest for synthetic and medicinal chemists and (glyco)biologists, as well as researchers involved in various biomedical fields.

This book examines the human auditory effects of exposure to directed beams of high-power microwave pulses, which research results have shown can cause a cascade of health events when aimed at a human subject or the subject's head. The book details multidisciplinary investigations using physical theories and models, physiological events and phenomena, and computer analysis and simulation. Coverage includes brain anatomy and physiology, dosimetry of microwave power deposition, microwave auditory effect, interaction mechanisms, shock/pressure wave induction, Havana syndrome, and application in microwave thermoacoustic tomography (MTT). The book will be welcomed by scientists, academics, health professionals, government officials, and practicing biomedical engineers as an important contribution to the continuing study of the effects of microwave pulse absorption on humans.

This book highlights the overview of the COVID-19 pandemic from both the scientific and the social perspectives. The scientific part presents key facts of COVID-19, including the structure of the virus and the techniques for the diagnosis, treatment, and vaccine development against the disease, covering state-of-the-art findings and achievements worldwide. The social part is written by WHO professionals who worked on the frontier of the fight against the disease. It covers the global security situation during the pandemic, the WHO and governmental-level risk management measures, and the estimated impact that COVID-19 will eventually create on social life after it is globally controlled.

Written by 30 worldwide leading scientists, experts and medical doctors, this comprehensive book provides a broad, multi-disciplinary overview on hemoperfusion. The research of the subject was started by TMS Chang - the pioneer and inventor of microcapsules who is well known as the 'the Father of Microcapsules.' The book presents the numerous recent developments in this field. A series of tailor-made, toxin removing and cell separating adsorbents or microcapsules with unique properties have been designed, prepared and produced for use in the treatment of diseases such as autoimmune disease, drug over-dose, acute inflammation, etc., in which ordinary medical treatments shows little or no efficacy. Various modalities of hemoperfusion treatments and results are described to provide readers with up-to-date information on the highly interdisciplinary field of hemoperfusion.

The book provides an introduction to the basics of fungi, discussing various types ranging from edible mushrooms to Neurospora - a model system for genetics and epigenetics. After addressing the classification and biodiversity of fungi, and fungi in different ecological niches, it describes the latest applications of fungi, their role in sustainable environments and in alleviating stress in plants, as well as their role in causing plant and animal diseases. Further chapters explore the advances in fungal interactions research and their implications for various systems, and discuss plant-pathogen interactions. The book also features a section on bioprospecting, and is an extremely interesting and informative read for anybody involved in the field of mycology, microbiology and biotechnology teaching and research.

The Pigments from Microalgae Handbook presents the current state of knowledge on pigment production using microalgae-based processes, and covers both the scientific fundamentals of this technology and its practical applications. It addresses biology, chemistry, biochemistry, analysis and engineering aspects, as well as applications of natural pigments in photosynthetic organisms. The book also describes the analytical procedures associated with the characterization of pigments and the engineering aspects of microalgal pigment production. It considers the three major classes of pigments(chlorophylls, carotenoids and phycobiliproteins) produced and surveys the main commercial applications of these chemicals. The book offers a valuable source of information for industrial researchers and practitioners in industrial biotechnology, as it covers various engineering aspects of microalgal pigment production, such as bioreactors and bioprocesses, industrial extraction processes, and the bioeconomy of production including life-cycle assessment. The book will also be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students of biochemistry, food chemistry, and industrial microbiology.

This book highlights time reversal acoustics, techniques based on the symmetry properties of acoustic fields. It has the unique feature that the first eleven chapters of the book are on the indepth studies of the theories of time reversal acoustics. The remaining chapters are on the four major applications of time reversal acoustics, together with their experimental setups and case studies: underwater communication, seismic exploration,nondestructive evaluation, and medical ultrasound imaging.. The gauge invariance approach to acoustic fields, proposed by the author in 2007, is confirmed by the successful fabrication of acoustical metamaterials and the applications of time reversal acoustics to superresolution. The book also presents groundbreaking applications of time reversal acoustics to underwater communication technology and the application of metamaterials to time reversal acoustics.

The book presents the proceedings of four conferences: The 24th International Conference on Image Processing, Computer Vision, & Pattern Recognition (IPCV'20), The 6th International Conference on Health Informatics and Medical Systems (HIMS'20), The 21st International Conference on Bioinformatics & Computational Biology (BIOCOMP'20), and The 6th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (BIOENG'20). The conferences took place in Las Vegas, NV, USA, July 27-30, 2020, and are part of the larger 2020 World Congress in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, & Applied Computing (CSCE'20), which features 20 major tracks. Authors include academics, researchers, professionals, and students. Presents the proceedings of four conferences as part of the 2020 World Congress in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, & Applied Computing (CSCE'20); Includes the tracks on Image Processing, Computer Vision, & Pattern Recognition, Health Informatics & Medical Systems, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology & Biomedical Engineering; Features papers from IPCV'20, HIMS'20, BIOCOMP'20, and BIOENG'20.