This book primarily aims to discuss emerging topics in statistical methods and to booster research, education, and training to advance statistical modeling on interval-censored survival data. Commonly collected from public health and biomedical research, among other sources, interval-censored survival data can easily be mistaken for typical right-censored survival data, which can result in erroneous statistical inference due to the complexity of this type of data. The book invites a group of internationally leading researchers to systematically discuss and explore the historical development of the associated methods and their computational implementations, as well as emerging topics related to interval-censored data. It covers a variety of topics, including univariate interval-censored data, multivariate interval-censored data, clustered interval-censored data, competing risk interval-censored data, data with interval-censored covariates, interval-censored data from electric medical records, and misclassified interval-censored data. Researchers, students, and practitioners can directly make use of the state-of-the-art methods covered in the book to tackle their problems in research, education, training and consultation.

This book provides an overview of the theories and applications on subgroups in the biopharmaceutical industry. Drawing from a range of expert perspectives in academia and industry, this collection offers an overarching dialogue about recent advances in biopharmaceutical applications, novel statistical and methodological developments, and potential future directions. The volume covers topics in subgroups in clinical trial design; subgroup identification and personalized medicine; and general issues in subgroup analyses, including regulatory ones. Included chapters present current methods, theories, and case applications in the diverse field of subgroup application and analysis. Offering timely perspectives from a range of authoritative sources, the volume is designed to have wide appeal to professionals in the pharmaceutical industry and to graduate students and researchers in academe and government.

Over 20 years have elapsed since publication of the seminal two volume series entitled Q Fever: The Biology of Coxiella burnetii (edited by J. C. Williams and H. A. Thompson) and Q fever: The Disease (edited by T. J. Marrie) that described the current state of Coxiella burnetii research. The ensuing years have brought the post-genomic era and accompanying technologies that have catalyzed major advances in the field, including milestones discoveries of genetic transformation and host cell-free growth of this former obligate intracellular bacterium. Understanding how the bacterium resists the degradative functions of vacuole, and the host cell functions coopted for successful parasitism, are central to understanding Q fever pathogenesis. Recent achievements in glycomics and proteomics are guiding development of enhanced detection schemes for the bacterium in addition to shedding light on the host immune response to the pathogen. The book covers the current state-of-the-art knowledge in the selected fields of C. burnetii/Q fever research. Coxiella has matured from a niche organism, investigated by a handful of laboratories worldwide, to a model system to study macrophage parasitism, developmental biology, host-pathogen interactions, and immune evasion/modulation.

This volume of Pharmaceutical Biocatalysis starts with a discussion on the importance of biocatalytic synthesis approaches for a sustainable and environmentally friendly production of pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Among the enzymes discussed in detail with respect to their pharmaceutical relevance are cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases playing an important role in modulating signal transduction in various cell types; human DOPA decarboxylase, related to Parkinson's disease and aromatic amino acid decarboxylase deficiency; and phospholipase D enzymes as drug targets. Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 mutations are novel therapeutic targets in acute myeloid leukemia. An additional chapter is devoted to the use of enzymes for prodrug activation in cancer therapy. The other topics include small-molecule inhibitors targeting receptor tyrosine kinases in cancer, -Lactams and related compounds as antibacterials, non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants for the treatment of thromboembolic diseases, and the molecular mechanisms for statin pleiotropy and its clinical relevance in cardiovascular diseases. The last chapter is a review of lysosomal storage disorders with an overview of approved drugs for treating these disorders by enzyme replacement therapy.

This book presents a sample of research on knowledge-based systems in biomedicine and computational life science. The contributions include: personalized stress diagnosis system, image analysis system for breast cancer diagnosis, analysis of neuronal cell images, structure prediction of protein, relationship between two mental disorders, detection of cardiac abnormalities, holistic medicine based treatment and analysis of life-science data.

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This book explores the most important processing steps of proteomics data analysis and presents practical guidelines, as well as software tools, that are both user-friendly and state-of-the-art in chemo- and biostatistics. Beginning with methods to control the false discovery rate (FDR), the volume continues with chapters devoted to software suites for constructing quantitation data tables, missing value related issues, differential analysis software, and more. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include the kind of detail and implementation advice that leads to successful results. Authoritative and practical, Statistical Analysis of Proteomic Data: Methods and Tools serves as an ideal guide for proteomics researchers looking to extract the best of their data with state-of-the art tools while also deepening their understanding of data analysis.

"Biomedical Engineering: Health Care Systems, Technology and Techniques" is an edited volume with contributions from world experts. It provides readers with unique contributions related to current research and future healthcare systems. Practitioners and researchers focused on computer science, bioinformatics, engineering and medicine will find this book a valuable reference.

This detailed volume explores techniques for researching brown adipose tissue (BAT) and the fascinating biology and therapeutic potential of thermogenic adipocytes. The content reflects the advancing technologies in genetics, imaging, and 'omics strategies that are allowing researchers to probe BAT biology at unprecedented depths and detail, yet it also presents classic physiology principles, which remain the core tenets of BAT biology. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Brown Adipose Tissue: Methods and Protocols provides perspectives and detailed protocols for the benefit of both new BAT researchers looking for guidance as well as seasoned researchers who would like to expand their toolkits. Chapter 12 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

- Offers an abundance of explanations in a simple and clear manner without requiring mathematical knowledge above high school level - Presents thorough and detailed explanations of both General Relativity and Special Relativity - Presents simple demonstrations that are physically oriented and include complete explanations - Gives demonstrations of Special Relativity, including E=mc(2), and General Relativity, including the covariant derivative, the geodesic equation and the relativistic Maxwell laws

Python is one of the most popular programming languages, widely used for data analysis and modelling, and is fast becoming the leading choice for scientists and engineers. Unlike other textbooks introducing Python, typically organised by language syntax, this book uses many examples from across Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth science, and Engineering to teach and motivate students in science and engineering. The text is organised by the tasks and workflows students undertake day-to-day, helping them see the connections between programming tools and their disciplines. The pace of study is carefully developed for complete beginners, and a spiral pedagogy is used so concepts are introduced across multiple chapters, allowing readers to engage with topics more than once. "Try This!" exercises and online Jupyter notebooks encourage students to test their new knowledge, and further develop their programming skills. Online solutions are available for instructors, alongside discipline-specific homework problems across the sciences and engineering.

This book introduces the open source R software language that can be implemented in biostatistics for data organization, statistical analysis, and graphical presentation. In the years since the authors' 2014 work Introduction to Data Analysis and Graphical Presentation in Biostatistics with R, the R user community has grown exponentially and the R language has increased in maturity and functionality. This updated volume expands upon skill-sets useful for students and practitioners in the biological sciences by describing how to work with data in an efficient manner, how to engage in meaningful statistical analyses from multiple perspectives, and how to generate high-quality graphics for professional publication of their research. A common theme for research in the diverse biological sciences is that decision-making depends on the empirical use of data. Beginning with a focus on data from a parametric perspective, the authors address topics such as Student t-Tests for independent samples and matched pairs; oneway and twoway analyses of variance; and correlation and linear regression. The authors also demonstrate the importance of a nonparametric perspective for quality assurance through chapters on the Mann-Whitney U Test, Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks test, Kruskal-Wallis H-Test for Oneway Analysis of Variance, and the Friedman Twoway Analysis of Variance. To address the element of data presentation, the book also provides an extensive review of the many graphical functions available with R. There are now perhaps more than 15,000 external packages available to the R community. The authors place special emphasis on graphics using the lattice package and the ggplot2 package, as well as less common, but equally useful, figures such as bean plots, strip charts, and violin plots. A robust package of supplementary material, as well as an introduction of the development of both R and the discipline of biostatistics, makes this ideal for novice learners as well as more experienced practitioners.

This book gives an overview of applications of Machine Learning (ML) in diverse fields of biological sciences, including healthcare, animal sciences, agriculture, and plant sciences. Machine learning has major applications in process modelling, computer vision, signal processing, speech recognition, and language understanding and processing and life, and health sciences. It is increasingly used in understanding DNA patterns and in precision medicine. This book is divided into eight major sections, each containing chapters that describe the application of ML in a certain field. The book begins by giving an introduction to ML and the various ML methods. It then covers interesting and timely aspects such as applications in genetics, cell biology, the study of plant-pathogen interactions, and animal behavior. The book discusses computational methods for toxicity prediction of environmental chemicals and drugs, which forms a major domain of research in the field of biology. It is of relevance to post-graduate students and researchers interested in exploring the interdisciplinary areas of use of machine learning and deep learning in life sciences.

This second edition of Design of Observational Studies is both an introduction to statistical inference in observational studies and a detailed discussion of the principles that guide the design of observational studies. An observational study is an empiric investigation of effects caused by treatments when randomized experimentation is unethical or infeasible. Observational studies are common in most fields that study the effects of treatments on people, including medicine, economics, epidemiology, education, psychology, political science and sociology. The quality and strength of evidence provided by an observational study is determined largely by its design. Design of Observational Studies is organized into five parts. Chapters 2, 3, and 5 of Part I cover concisely many of the ideas discussed in Rosenbaum's Observational Studies (also published by Springer) but in a less technical fashion. Part II discusses the practical aspects of using propensity scores and other tools to create a matched comparison that balances many covariates, and includes an updated chapter on matching in R. In Part III, the concept of design sensitivity is used to appraise the relative ability of competing designs to distinguish treatment effects from biases due to unmeasured covariates. Part IV is new to this edition; it discusses evidence factors and the computerized construction of more than one comparison group. Part V discusses planning the analysis of an observational study, with particular reference to Sir Ronald Fisher's striking advice for observational studies: "make your theories elaborate." This new edition features updated exploration of causal influence, with four new chapters, a new R package DOS2 designed as a companion for the book, and discussion of several of the latest matching packages for R. In particular, DOS2 allows readers to reproduce many analyses from Design of Observational Studies.

Lithium-ion batteries are the most promising among the secondary battery technologies, for providing high energy and high power required for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and electric vehicles (EV). Lithium-ion batteries consist of conventional graphite or lithium titanate as anode and lithium transition metal-oxides as cathode. A lithium salt dissolved in an aprotic solvent such as ethylene carbonate and diethylene carbonate is used as electrolyte. This rechargeable battery operates based on the principle of electrochemical lithium insertion/re-insertion or intercalation/de-intercalation during charging/discharging of the battery. It is essential that both electrodes have layered structure which should accept and release the lithium-ion. In advanced lithium-ion battery technologies, other than layered anodes are also considered. High cell voltage, high capacity as well as energy density, high Columbic efficiency, long cycle life, and convenient to fabricate any size or shape of the battery, are the vital features of this battery technology. Lithium-ion batteries are already being used widely in most of the consumer electronics such as mobile phones, laptops, PDAs etc. and are in early stages of application in HEV and EV, which will have far and wide implications and benefits to society. The book contains ten chapters, each focusing on a specific topic pertaining to the application of lithium-ion batteries in Electric Vehicles. Basic principles, electrode materials, electrolytes, high voltage cathodes, recycling spent Li-ion batteries and battery charge controller are addressed. This book is unique among the countable books focusing on the lithium-ion battery technologies for vehicular applications. It provides fundamentals and practical knowledge on the lithium-ion battery for vehicular application. Students, scholars, academicians, and battery and automobile industries will find this volume useful.

This book is a collection of full papers based on the peer-reviewed submissions accepted for the ERIDOB 2020 conference (which was cancelled due to COVID-19). ERIDOB brings together researchers in Biology Education from around the world to share and discuss their research work and results. It is the only major international conference on biology education research, and all the papers therefore are written by international researchers from across Europe (and beyond), which present the findings from a range of contemporary biology education research projects. They are all entirely new papers describing new research in the field. The papers are peer-reviewed by experienced international researchers selected by the ERIDOB Academic Committee. The papers reflect the ERIDOB conference strands by covering topics on: Socioscientific issues, Nature of Science and scientific thinking Teaching and learning in biology Perceptions of biology and biology education Textbook analysis Outdoor and environmental education By providing a collection of new research findings from many countries, this book is a great resource for researchers and practitioners such as school, college and university biology teachers' around the world. It is useful for training biology teachers and therefore valuable to teacher training institutions.

An encyclopedic presentation of the latest research, developments, manufacturing techniques, and clinical applications of synthetic biomaterials (polymers) in the lucrative medical devices and diagnostic products industry. Bridging the gap between medical device and drug, the authors bring into

This monograph provides a concise point of research topics and reference for modeling correlated response data with time-dependent covariates, and longitudinal data for the analysis of population-averaged models, highlighting methods by a variety of pioneering scholars. While the models presented in the volume are applied to health and health-related data, they can be used to analyze any kind of data that contain covariates that change over time. The included data are analyzed with the use of both R and SAS, and the data and computing programs are provided to readers so that they can replicate and implement covered methods. It is an excellent resource for scholars of both computational and methodological statistics and biostatistics, particularly in the applied areas of health.

This book provides an introduction to qualitative and quantitative aspects of human physiology. It examines biological and physiological processes and phenomena, including a selection of mathematical models, showing how physiological problems can be mathematically formulated and studied. It also illustrates how a wide range of engineering and physics topics, such as electronics, fluid dynamics, solid mechanics and control theory can be used to describe and understand physiological processes and systems. Throughout the text, there are introductions to measuring and quantifying physiological processes using both signaling and imaging technologies. This new edition includes updated material on pathophysiology, metabolism and the TCA cycle, as well as more advanced worked examples. This book describes the basic structure and models of cellular systems, the structure and function of the cardiovascular system, and the electrical and mechanical activity of the heart, and provides an overview of the structure and function of the respiratory and nervous systems. It also includes an introduction to the basic concepts and applications of reaction kinetics, pharmacokinetic modelling and tracer kinetics. It appeals to final year biomedical engineering undergraduates and graduates alike, as well as to practising engineers new to the fields of bioengineering or medical physics.

Bayesian methods are growing more and more popular, finding new practical applications in the fields of health sciences, engineering, environmental sciences, business and economics and social sciences, among others. This book explores the use of Bayesian analysis in the statistical estimation of the unknown phenomenon of interest. The contents demonstrate that where such methods are applicable, they offer the best possible estimate of the unknown. Beyond presenting Bayesian theory and methods of analysis, the text is illustrated with a variety of applications to real world problems.

The field of electromagnetic sensitivity is the new epidemic of the 21st century, and can cause disease of the automatic nerve system in any part of the body. This is as a result of chemical sensitivity, in which over 80,000 chemicals are involved, resulting in innumerable combinations. A cursory understanding of the combinations can help clinicians partially understand the associated problems and thus help in the diagnosis and treatment of electromagnetic sensitivities. But a basic understanding of environmentally induced illness and healing must first be understood by the clinicians before diseases occur such as cardiac arrhythmia, muscle spasms, and nerve pain. Key Features: Describes how an understanding of the vast combinations of electrical and chemical sensitivities will help in the diagnosis and treatment of electromagnetic sensitivities Reveals the complexity and multi-faceted presentation often seen in chemical sensitivity and chronic degenerative disease cases Provides information backed up by rigorous scientific data including hundreds of tables and figures as online resources Features a Dedication to Robert Becker, MD, an orthopedic surgeon who was one of the first clinicians to recognize the significance of EMF in medicine and surgery, and also to his assistant Andrew Marino, PhD, who helped develop the basic science of orthopedic electromagnet healing

This book provides an in-depth review of the history, fundamental theory, design strategies, and applications of nanogenerators. Working principles, device mechanisms, material characteristics, types of nanogenerators, and their different uses are fully explored. Top researchers in the field of sustainable technology from different backgrounds and fields contribute their expertise to deliver a must-have practical resource for students, academic researchers, and industry professionals. FEATURES Describes the fundamental aspects and theory of nanogenerators Explores design strategies including material assessment based upon planned application Tailors the introduction and essential concept discussion for the industrial and research community Explores current applications, existing challenges, and the future outlook for the field

Lipids in Plants and Algae: From Fundamental Science to Industrial Applications, Volume 101 provides in-depth reviews on the most important aspects of the field. Topics in this volume encompass the most recent data about the physical properties of membrane lipids, lipid biosynthesis and metabolism (including glycerolipids, fatty acids, sterols, N-acylethanolamines, prostaglandins, phytoprostane), lipid storage, acyl flux, the dynamic and transport of glycerolipids, and the conversion of fatty acids into hydrocarbons. Lipid metabolism and lipidomics in plants and algae are one of the most challenging areas in biology, not only for fundamental research but also for the sustainable production of valuable molecules for green chemistry, including biofuel and health.

The primary purpose of this book is to contribute to an overcoming of the traditional separation between humanties and life sciences which, according to the authors, is required today both by the developments of these disciplines and by the social problems they have to face. The volume discusses the theoretical, epistemological and ethical repercussions of the main acquisitions obtained in the last decades from the behavioral sciences. Both the authors are inspired by the concept of a "critical ethology", oriented to archive the nature/culture and human/animal dichotomies. The book proposes a theoretical and methodological restructuring of the comparative study of the animal behavior, learning, and cultures, focused on the fact that thought, culture and language are not exclusively human prerogatives. The proposed analysis includes a critique of speciesism and determinism in the ethical field, and converge with the Numanities, to which the series is dedicated, on a key point: it is necessary to arrive at an education system able to offer scientific, social and ethical skills that are trasversal and transcendent to the traditional humanities/life sciences bipartition. Skills that are indispensable for facing the complex challenges of the contemporary society and promoting a critical reflection of humanity on itself.

The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a serious global pandemic in just one year. Nearly every country and territory in the world has been affected by the virus. The virulence and infection rate of the virus are profound, and has required extreme social distancing measures across the globe in order to prevent overwhelming the healthcare services and hospitals. COVID-19 appears to have the greatest effects on elderly individuals and those who have co-morbid diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. As the cases and death rate remain high, there are justified fears of this virus remaining for several months or years to come. To address this, a rapid and unprecedented worldwide mobilization effort has begun to identify effective treatments and develop vaccines. As these begin to be deployed and administered across the globe, many now feel the virus will be brought under control and lives will eventually return to normal. This new volume will increase readers' understanding of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic through a series of chapters that address these concerns. Leading experts will discuss new treatment approaches, vaccine development, mental health aspects of the pandemic, and convey the results of survey studies. The book will be an excellent resource for researchers studying virology, metabolic diseases, respiratory disorders, and clinical scientists, physicians, drug companies, and healthcare services and workers.