|
|
Books > Science & Mathematics
Emerging technologies present a challenging but fascinating set of
ethical, legal and regulatory issues. The articles selected for
this volume provide a broad overview of the most influential
historical and current thinking in this area and show that existing
frameworks are often inadequate to address new technologies - such
as biotechnology, nanotechnology, synthetic biology and robotics -
and innovative new models are needed. This collection brings
together invaluable, innovative and often complementary approaches
for overcoming the unique challenges of emerging technology ethics
and governance.
In this stimulating work, Graham Richards provides general readers and students with an authoritative introduction to the central problems currently faced by chemistry. In clear, down-to-earth language he explains how atoms join to form molecules, and explores the major challenges preoccupying chemists, including the synthesis of new substances such as drugs, plastics, detergents and dyes. The book also examines the spectacular advances that have been made in the chemical understanding of genetics and the mechanisms of living organisms-- a necessary prelude to genetic engineering--and considers the various ethical and social problems spawned by the new chemistry. Richards is a widely published author of many books and articles on chemistry.
Assuming no previous study in logic, this informal yet rigorous
text covers the material of a standard undergraduate first course
in mathematical logic, using natural deduction and leading up to
the completeness theorem for first-order logic. At each stage of
the text, the reader is given an intuition based on standard
mathematical practice, which is subsequently developed with clean
formal mathematics. Alongside the practical examples, readers learn
what can and can't be calculated; for example the correctness of a
derivation proving a given sequent can be tested mechanically, but
there is no general mechanical test for the existence of a
derivation proving the given sequent. The undecidability results
are proved rigorously in an optional final chapter, assuming
Matiyasevich's theorem characterising the computably enumerable
relations. Rigorous proofs of the adequacy and completeness proofs
of the relevant logics are provided, with careful attention to the
languages involved. Optional sections discuss the classification of
mathematical structures by first-order theories; the required
theory of cardinality is developed from scratch. Throughout the
book there are notes on historical aspects of the material, and
connections with linguistics and computer science, and the
discussion of syntax and semantics is influenced by modern
linguistic approaches. Two basic themes in recent cognitive science
studies of actual human reasoning are also introduced. Including
extensive exercises and selected solutions, this text is ideal for
students in logic, mathematics, philosophy, and computer science.
This book presents the SPH method (Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics)
for fluid modelling from a theoretical and applied viewpoint. It
comprises two parts that refer to each other. The first one,
dealing with the fundamentals of Hydraulics, is based on the
elementary principles of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Mechanics. The
specific laws governing a system of macroscopic particles are
built, before large systems involving dissipative processes are
explained. The continua are discussed, and a fairly exhaustive
account of turbulence is given. The second part discloses the bases
of the SPH Lagrangian numerical method from the continuous
equations, as well as from discrete variational principles, setting
out the method's specific properties of conservativity and
invariance. Various numerical schemes are compared, permanently
referring to the physics as dealt with in the first part.
Applications to schematic instances are discussed, and, ultimately,
practical applications to the dimensioning of coastal and fluvial
structures are considered.
Despite the rapid growth in the SPH field, this book is the first
to present the method in a comprehensive way for fluids. It should
serve as a rigorous introduction to SPH and a reference for
fundamental mathematical fluid dynamics. This book is intended for
scientists, doctoral students, teachers, and engineers, who want to
enjoy a rather unified approach to the theoretical bases of
Hydraulics or who want to improve their skills using the SPH
method. It will inspire the reader with a feeling of unity,
answering many questions without any detrimental formalism.
The chapters in this monograph are contributions from the Advances
in Quantum Monte Carlo symposium held at Pacifichem 2010,
International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies. The
symposium was dedicated to celebrate the career of James B.
Anderson, a notable researcher in the field. Quantum Monte Carlo
provides an ab initio solution to the Schroedinger equation by
performing a random walk through configuration space in imaginary
time. Benchmark calculations suggest that its most commonly-used
variant, "fixed-node" diffusion Monte Carlo, estimates energies
with an accuracy comparable to that of high-level coupled-cluster
calculations. These two methods, each having advantages and
disadvantages, are complementary "gold-standards" of quantum
chemistry. There are challenges facing researchers in the field,
several of which are addressed in the chapters in this monograph.
These include improving the accuracy and precision of quantum Monte
Carlo calculations; understanding the exchange nodes and utilizing
the simulated electron distribution; extending the method to large
and/or experimentally-challenging systems; and developing hybrid
molecular mechanics/dynamics and Monte Carlo algorithms.
The human pathogens Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria
gonorrhoeae are exquisitely adapted to life within the human
mucosa, their only natural niche. N. meningitidis is the causative
agent of rapidly transmissible meningitis and septic shock.
Vaccines developed to control this pathogen can be rendered
ineffective by the pathogen's ability to undergo antigenic
variation. In contrast, there are no current vaccination prospects
for N. gonorrhoeae, the causative agent of sexually transmitted
gonorrhoea. Historically, infections caused by N. gonorrhoeae were
treated with antibiotics. However, the recent advent of new strains
with resistance to all known antibiotics is causing such treatment
regimes to fail, necessitating the need for new and more effective
control strategies. In this book, leading Neisseria authorities
review the most important research on pathogenic Neisseria to
provide a timely overview of the field. The topics covered include:
the link between pathogenesis and important metabolic pathways *
vaccine development * antibiotic resistance * transcriptomics of
regulatory networks * regulatory small RNAs * interactions with
neutrophils * advances in humanized mouse models. An essential
guide for research scientists, advanced students, clinicians, and
other professionals working with Neisseria, the book is a
recommended text for all microbiology libraries.
Structural crystallographic studies can determine not only the full
stereochemistry of chemical species but also their details of
arrangement in the crystal. Such geometrical data provide an
essential basis for the interpretation of chemical, physical, and
biological properties of chemical species. This volume contains key
papers presented at the seventh symposium on organic crystal
chemistry at Poznan in Poland. Among the themes discussed were
factors influencing molecular conformation and polymorphism,
chemical and biological activity, intermolecular interactions,
crystal chemistry of polymers and molecular modelling.
Primary sexual traits, those structures and processes directly
involved in reproduction, are some of the most diverse,
specialized, and bizarre in the animal kingdom. Moreover,
reproductive traits are often species-specific, suggesting that
they evolved very rapidly. This diversity, long the province of
taxonomists, has recently attracted broader interest from
evolutionary biologists, especially those interested in sexual
selection and the evolution of reproductive strategies.
Primary sexual characters were long assumed to be the product of
natural selection, exclusively. A recent alternative suggests that
sexual selection explains much of the diversity of "primary" sexual
characters. A third approach to the evolution of reproductive
interactions after copulation or insemination has been to consider
the process one of sexual conflict. That is, the reproductive
processes of a species may reflect, as does the mating system,
evolution acting on males and on females, but in different
directions.
In this volume, authors explore a wide variety of primary sexual
characters and selective pressures that have shaped them, from
natural selection for offspring survival to species-isolating
mechanisms, sperm competition, cryptic female choice and sexual
arms races. Exploring diverse reproductive adaptations from a
theoretical and practical perspective, The Evolution of Primary
Sexual Characters will provide an unparalleled overview of sexual
diversity in many taxa and an introduction to the issues in sexual
selection that are changing our view of sexual processes.
Inspired by the opportunities and challenges presented by rapid
advances in the fields of retrieval of chemical and other
scientific information, several speakers presented at a symposium,
The History of the Future of Chemical Information, on Aug. 20,
2012, at the 244th Meeting of the American Chemical Society in
Philadelphia, PA. Storage and retrieval is of undeniable value to
the conduct of chemical research. The participants believe that
past practices in this field have not only contributed to the
increasingly rapid evolution of the field but continue to do so,
hence the somewhat unusual title. Even with archival access to
several of the presentations, a number of the presenters felt that
broader access to this information is of value. Thus, the
presenters decided to create an ACS Symposium book based on the
topic, with the conviction that it would be valuable to chemists of
all disciplines. The past is a moving target depending on the
vagaries of technology, economics, politics and how researchers and
professionals choose to build on it. The aim of The History of the
Future of Chemical Information is to critically examine
trajectories in chemistry, information and communication as
determined by the authors in the light of current and possible
future practices of the chemical information profession. Along with
some additional areas primarily related to present and future
directions, this collection contains most of the topics covered in
the meeting symposium. Most of the original authors agreed to write
chapters for this book. Much of the historical and even current
material is scattered throughout the literature so the authors
strived to gather this information into a discrete source. Faced
with the rapid evolution of such aspects as mobile access to
information, cloud computing, and public resource production, this
book will be not only of interest but provide valuable insight to
this rapidly evolving field, both to practitioners within the field
of chemical information and chemists everywhere whose need for
current and accurate information on chemistry and related fields is
increasingly important.
This volume is a systematic treatment of the additive number theory
of polynomials over a finite field, an area possessing deep and
fascinating parallels with classical number theory. In providing
asymptomatic proofs of both the Polynomial Three Primes Problem (an
analog of Vinogradov's theorem) and the Polynomial Waring Problem,
the book develops the various tools necessary to apply an adelic
"circle method" to a wide variety of additive problems in both the
polynomial and classical settings. A key to the methods employed
here is that the generalized Riemann hypothesis is valid in this
polynomial setting. The authors presuppose a familiarity with
algebra and number theory as might be gained from the first two
years of graduate course, but otherwise the book is self-contained.
Starting with analysis on local fields, the main technical results
are all proved in detail so that there are extensive discussions of
the theory of characters in a non-Archimidean field, adele class
groups, the global singular series and Radon-Nikodyn derivatives,
L-functions of Dirichlet type, and K-ideles.
These popular and proven workbooks help students build confidence
before attempting end-of-chapter problems. They provide short
exercises that focus on developing a particular skill, mostly
requiring students to draw or interpret sketches and graphs. New to
the Fourth Edition are exercises that provide guided practice for
the textbook's Model boxes.
Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions and New Energy is a summary of
selected experimental and theoretical research performed over the
last 19 years that gives profound and unambiguous evidence for low
energy nuclear reaction (LENR), historically known as cold fusion.
In 1989, the subject was announced with great fanfare, to the
chagrin of many people in the science community. However, the
significant claim of its discoverers, Martin Fleischmann and
Stanley Pons, excess heat without harmful neutron emissions or
strong gamma radiation, involving electrochemical cells using heavy
water and palladium, has held strong.
In recent years, LENR, within the field of condensed matter nuclear
science, has begun to attract widespread attention and is regarded
as a potential alternative and renewable energy source to confront
climate change and energy scarcity. The aim of the research is to
collect experimental findings for LENR in order to present
reasonable explanations and a conclusive theoretical and practical
working model.
The goal of the field is directed toward the fabrication of LENR
devices with unique commercial potential demonstrating an
alternative energy source that does not produce greenhouse gases,
long-lived radiation or strong prompt radiation. The idea of LENR
has led to endless discussions about the kinetic impossibility of
intense nuclear reactions with high coulomb barrier potential.
However, recent theoretical work may soon shed light on this
mystery.
Understanding this process is one of the most challenging and
perhaps important issues in the scientific world. This book
includes previously unpublished studies, new and controversial
theories to approach LENR with access to new sources and
experimental results. The book offers insight into this
controversial subject and will help readers re-evaluate their
perspective on LENR as a possible alternative energy source.
Multivariate Analysis deals with observations on more than one
variable where there is some inherent interdependence between the
variables. With several texts already available in this area, one
may very well enquire of the authors as to the need for yet another
book. Most of the available books fall into two categories, either
theoretical or data analytic. The present book not only combines
the two approaches but it also has been guided by the need to give
suitable matter for the beginner as well as illustrating some
deeper aspects of the subject for the research worker. Practical
examples are kept to the forefront and, wherever feasible, each
technique is motivated by such an example.
Acids and bases are ubiquitous in chemistry. Our understanding of
them, however, is dominated by their behaviour in water. Transfer
to non-aqueous solvents leads to profound changes in acid-base
strengths and to the rates and equilibria of many processes: for
example, synthetic reactions involving acids, bases and
nucleophiles; isolation of pharmaceutical actives through salt
formation; formation of zwitter- ions in amino acids; and
chromatographic separation of substrates. This book seeks to
enhance our understanding of acids and bases by reviewing and
analysing their behaviour in non-aqueous solvents. The behaviour is
related where possible to that in water, but correlations and
contrasts between solvents are also presented. Fundamental
background material is provided in the initial chapters:
quantitative aspects of acid-base equilibria, including definitions
and relationships between solution pH and species distribution; the
influence of molecular structure on acid strengths; and acidity in
aqueous solution. Solvent properties are reviewed, along with the
magnitude of the interaction energies of solvent molecules with
(especially) ions; the ability of solvents to participate in
hydrogen bonding and to accept or donate electron pairs is seen to
be crucial. Experimental methods for determining dissociation
constants are described in detail. In the remaining chapters,
dissociation constants of a wide range of acids in three distinct
classes of solvents are discussed: protic solvents, such as
alcohols, which are strong hydrogen-bond donors; basic, polar
aprotic solvents, such as dimethylformamide; and low-basicity and
low polarity solvents, such as acetonitrile and tetrahydrofuran.
Dissociation constants of individual acids vary over more than 20
orders of magnitude among the solvents, and there is a strong
differentiation between the response of neutral and charged acids
to solvent change. Ion-pairing and hydrogen-bonding equilibria,
such as between phenol and phenoxide ions, play an increasingly
important role as the solvent polarity decreases, and their
influence on acid-base equilibria and salt formation is described.
|
|