This book presents the latest cutting edge research, theoretical methods, and novel applications in the field of computational intelligence and computational biological approaches that are aiming to combat COVID-19. The book gives the technological key drivers behind using AI to find drugs that target the virus, shedding light on the structure of COVID-19, detecting the outbreak and spread of new diseases, spotting signs of a COVID-19 infection in medical images, monitoring how the virus and lockdown is affecting mental health, and forecasting how COVID-19 cases and deaths will spread across cities and why. Further, the book helps readers understand computational intelligence techniques combating COVID-19 in a simple and systematic way.

The only text of its kind for practicing clinicians, Quick Reference Guide: Otolaryngology is a comprehensive, quick-access reference written specifically for nurses, physician's assistants, and medical students. Not only is it useful as a pithy reference guide for clinicians, it is a learning system designed to foster retention and comprehension, and an in-depth review for written boards and ENT certification. The book is authored by a nurse practitioner with two practicing otolaryngologists, who are among the most highly respected professionals in their fields, as consultants. The guide is consistently organized by anatomical region and contains, for each topic, easy-to-follow tables, charts, diagrams, and algorithms to guide in the work-up, differential diagnosis, diagnostic methods, medical therapy, and treatment alternatives. The text includes procedure protocols used in clinical settings and staging criteria for common cancer diagnoses. Another important feature is the guide's overview of surgical management for specific conditions. Topics are covered on a "need-to-know" basis for written boards and certification review. Key Features: Provides key differential diagnosis guidelines Includes fifteen 'how-to' Procedure Protocols used in clinical settings and Staging Criteria for eight of the more common cancer diagnoses Presents Overview of Surgical Management for specific conditions Serves as a concise reference guide and review for written boards and ENT certification Designed for clinicians in general practice, those entering the ENT field, and for use as a diagnosis guide for referral purposes Includes six videos illustrating actual procedures, including nasal endoscopy, flexible laryngoscopy, and others

Programs that address the transition from practical/vocational nursing to Baccalaureate nursing were virtually nonexistent two years ago; today there are 155 such programs, a number that continues to increase. This is the first text to address the specific educational needs of students transitioning from LPN/LVN to BSN and professional practice. Comprehensive and user-friendly, the text covers every aspect of role transition in the LPN/LVN to BSN course. It is based on the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine's "Future of Nursing" and the "BSN in 10" initiative. The book provides an overview of professional practice at the BSN level and examines the core, role, and skill competencies required for the Baccalaureate-prepared nurse.

The text addresses competence in leadership and management, critical thinking, cultural intelligence, information technology, and professional writing, as well as legal and ethical concerns. It focuses on the role of the RN within an interdisciplinary team, describes the experience of returning to an academic setting, and the challenges of and strategies for accomplishing a successful role transition. Numerous reflective exercises, case vignettes and online case studies reinforce content. Important practice concepts like QSEN and the Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice are woven throughout the text. A robust ancillary package includes PowerPoints, online quizzes, reflective questions, and case studies.

Key Features: Comprises the first text to address the specific needs of rapidly growing LPN/LVN to BSN programs Covers every aspect of role transition and defines the higher-level skills required for BSNs Based on recommendations of the Institute of Medicine's "Future of Nursing" and the "BSN in 10" initiative Designed for use in classroom, online, and hybrid courses Incorporates reflective exercises, case studies, PowerPoints, and online quizzes to reinforce content

These are the Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Multibody Systems and Mechatronics (MUSME 2017) which was held in Florianopolis, Brazil, October 24-28, 2017. Topics addressed include analysis and synthesis of mechanisms; dynamics of multibody systems; design algorithms for mechatronic systems; simulation procedures and results; prototypes and their performance; robots and micromachines; experimental validations; theory of mechatronic simulation; mechatronic systems; and control of mechatronic systems. The MUSME 2017 Symposium was one of the activities of the FEIbIM Commission for Mechatronics and IFToMM technical Committees for Multibody Dynamics, Robotics and Mechatronics.

This book examines the new knowledge that has been gained from the objective monitoring of habitual physical activity by means of pedometers and accelerometers. It reviews current advances in the technology of activity monitoring and details advantages of objective monitors relative to physical activity questionnaires. It points to continuing gaps in knowledge, and explores the potential for further advances in the design of objective monitoring devices. Epidemiologists have studied relationships between questionnaire assessments of habitual physical activity and various medical conditions for some seventy years. In general, they have observed positive associations between regular exercise and good health, but because of inherent limitations in the reliability and accuracy of physical activity questionnaires, optimal exercise recommendations for the prevention and treatment of disease have remained unclear. Inexpensive pedometers and accelerometers now offer the epidemiologist the potential to collect relatively precisely graded and objective information on the volume, intensity and patterns of effort that people are undertaking, to relate this data to past and future health experience, and to establish dose/response relationships between physical activity and the various components of health. Such information is important both in assessing the causal nature of the observed associations and in establishing evidence-based recommendations concerning the minimal levels of daily physical activity needed to maintain good health.

Joint endoprosthetics - the science of implanting artificial joints into the human body - has been around since the 1960 s, and consistent advancements are leading to better practice, materials and mechanics.
The present book is devoted to the biophysics and effect of wear, friction and lubrication on artificial joints. The important aspects of biocompatibility and wear resistance are reviewed and a retrospective analysis of modern joint endoprosthetic designs is presented. Data on clinical aspects of endoprosthetics are cited in support of the text. Advancements in genetic engineering, and promising new techniques of designing bone and cartilage transplants are explored, and a critical comparison between tribological mechanisms of operation and natural joint functioning are made.
An exceptional resource for all specialists in orthopedy, biophysics, immunology and engineers engaged in developing artificial joints.

This book gathers state-of-the-art research in computational engineering and bioengineering to facilitate knowledge exchange between various scientific communities. Computational engineering (CE) is a relatively new discipline that addresses the development and application of computational models and simulations often coupled with high-performance computing to solve complex physical problems arising in engineering analysis and design in the context of natural phenomena. Bioengineering (BE) is an important aspect of computational biology, which aims to develop and use efficient algorithms, data structures, and visualization and communication tools to model biological systems. Today, engineering approaches are essential for biologists, enabling them to analyse complex physiological processes, as well as for the pharmaceutical industry to support drug discovery and development programmes.

The goal of this book is to provide, in a friendly and refreshing manner, both theoretical concepts and practical techniques for the important and exciting field of Artificial Intelligence that can be directly applied to real-world healthcare problems. Healthcare - the final frontier. Lately, it seems like Pandora opened the box and evil was released into the world. Fortunately, there was one thing left in the box: hope. In recent decades, hope has been increasingly represented by Intelligent Decision Support Systems. Their continuing mission: to explore strange new diseases, to seek out new treatments and drugs, and to intelligently manage healthcare resources and patients. Hence, this book is designed for all those who wish to learn how to explore, analyze and find new solutions for the most challenging domain of all time: healthcare.

This thesis reports on a novel system for extracellular recordings of the activity of excitable cells, which relies on an organic, charge-modulated field-effect transistor (FET) called OCMFET. The book shows how, thanks to the intrinsic biocompatibility, lightness, and inexpensiveness of the material used, this new system is able to overcome several problems typical of of "classic" electronic and bioelectronic. It provides a full description of the system, together with a comprehensive report of the successful experimental trials carried out on both cardiac and nerve cells, and a concise yet comprehensive overview of bioelectronic interfaces and organic sensors for electrophysiological applications.

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.

This book is an ensemble of six major chapters, an introduction, and a closure on modeling transport phenomena in porous media with applications. Two of the six chapters explain the underlying theories, whereas the rest focus on new applications. Porous media transport is essentially a multi-scale process. Accordingly, the related theory described in the second and third chapters covers both continuum- and meso-scale phenomena. Examining the continuum formulation imparts rigor to the empirical porous media models, while the mesoscopic model focuses on the physical processes within the pores. Porous media models are discussed in the context of a few important engineering applications. These include biomedical problems, gas hydrate reservoirs, regenerators, and fuel cells. The discussion reveals the strengths and weaknesses of existing models as well as future research directions.

This book presents fundamental requirements, electrical specification, and parameter tradeoffs of wearable EEG acquisition circuits, especially those compatible with dry electrodes for user-friendly recordings.  The authors introduce active electrode, the most promising solution for dry electrodes-based EEG measurement. This architectural concept has been combined with various, innovative circuit design techniques to illustrate structured IC design methodologies for high performance EEG recording. This book also gives examples on the design, implementation and evaluation of three generations of active electrode ICs.

The main goal of the present book is to deal with the role of nanobiotechnology in skin, soft tissue and bone infections since it is difficult to treat the infections due to the development of resistance in them against existing antibiotics. The present interdisciplinary book is very useful for a diverse group of readers including nanotechnologists, medical microbiologists, dermatologists, osteologists, biotechnologists, bioengineers. Nanotechnology in Skin, Soft-Tissue, and Bone Infections is divided into four sections: Section I- includes role of nanotechnology in skin infections such as atopic dermatitis, and nanomaterials for combating infections caused by bacteria and fungi. Section II- incorporates how nanotechnology can be used for soft-tissue infections such as diabetic foot ulcer and other wound infections; Section III- discusses about the nanomaterials in artificial scaffolds bone engineering and bone infections caused by bacteria and fungi; and also about the toxicity issues generated by the nanomaterials in general and nanoparticles in particular. The readers will be immensely enriched by the knowledge of new and emerging nanobiotechnologies in a variety of platforms.

This book highlights the growing applications of THz technology and various modules used for their successful realization. The enormous advantages of THz devices like higher resolution, spatial directivity, high-speed communication, greater bandwidth, non-ionizing signal nature and compactness make them useful in various applications like communication, sensing, security, safety, spectroscopy, manufacturing, bio-medical, agriculture, imaging, etc. Since the THz radiation covers frequencies from 0.1THz to around 10THz and highly attenuated by atmospheric gases, they are used in short-distance applications only. The book focuses on recent advances and different research issues in terahertz technology and presents theoretical, methodological, well-established and validated empirical works dealing with the different topics.

This book investigates the design of devices, systems, and circuits for medical applications using the two recently established frequency bands: ultra-wideband (3.1-10.6 GHz) and 60 GHz ISM band. These two bands provide the largest bandwidths available for communication technologies and present many attractive opportunities for medical applications. The applications of these bands in healthcare are wireless body area network (WBAN), medical imaging, biomedical sensing, wearable and implantable devices, fast medical device connectivity, video data transmission, and vital signs monitoring. The recent technological advances and developments proposed or used in medicine based on these two bands are covered. The book introduces possible solutions and design techniques to efficiently implement these systems in medical environment. All individual chapters are written by leading experts in their fields. Contributions by authors are on various applications of ultra-wideband and the 60 GHz ISM band including circuit implementation, UWB and 60 GHz signal transmission around and in- body, antenna design solution, hardware implementation of body sensors, UWB transceiver design, 60 GHz transceiver design, UWB radar for contactless respiratory monitoring, and ultra-wideband based medical Imaging. The book will be a key resource for medical professionals, bio-medical engineers, and graduate and senior undergraduate students in computer, electrical, electronic and biomedical engineering disciplines.

This book provides a unified framework for various currently available mathematical models that are used to analyze progression and regression in cancer development, and to predict its dynamics with respect to therapeutic interventions. Accurate and reliable model representations of cancer dynamics are milestones in the field of cancer research. Mathematical modeling approaches are becoming increasingly common in cancer research, as these quantitative approaches can help to validate hypotheses concerning cancer dynamics and thus elucidate the complexly interlaced mechanisms involved. Even though the related conceptual and technical information is growing at an exponential rate, the application of said information and realization of useful healthcare devices are lagging behind. In order to remedy this discrepancy, more interdisciplinary research works and course curricula need to be introduced in academic, industrial, and clinical organizations alike. To that end, this book reformulates most of the existing mathematical models as special cases of a general model, allowing readers to easily get an overall idea of cancer dynamics and its modeling. Moreover, the book will help bridge the gap between biologists and engineers, as it brings together cancer dynamics, the main steps involved in mathematical modeling, and control strategies developed for cancer management. This also allows readers in both medical and engineering fields to compare and contrast all the therapy-based models developed to date using a single source, and to identify unexplored research directions.

This book describes how the principle of self-sufficiency can be applied to a reconfigurable modular robotic organism. It shows the design considerations for a novel REPLICATOR robotic platform, both hardware and software, featuring the behavioral characteristics of social insect colonies. Following a comprehensive overview of some of the bio-inspired techniques already available, and of the state-of-the-art in re-configurable modular robotic systems, the book presents a novel power management system with fault-tolerant energy sharing, as well as its implementation in the REPLICATOR robotic modules. In addition, the book discusses, for the first time, the concept of "artificial energy homeostasis" in the context of a modular robotic organism, and shows its verification on a custom-designed simulation framework in different dynamic power distribution and fault tolerance scenarios. This book offers an ideal reference guide for both hardware engineers and software developers involved in the design and implementation of autonomous robotic systems.