Micro and Nano Systems for Biophysical Studies of Cells and Small Organisms provides a comprehensive introduction to the state-of-the-art micro and nano systems that have recently been developed and applied to biophysical studies of cells and small organisms. These micro and nano systems span from microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and microfluidic devices to robotic micro-nanomanipulation systems. These biophysical studies range from cell mechanics to the neural science of worms and Drosophila. This book will help readers understand the fundamentals surrounding the development of these tools and teach them the most recent advances in cellular and organismal biophysics enabled by these technologies.

In his thesis, Xiaoyu Sun conducts the first total synthesis of all possible stereoisomers of plakortide E and also confirms the absolute configuration of natural plakortide E. Xiaoyu Sun subsequently converts Plakortide E methyl ester to plakortone B in a biomimetic conversion. Construction and functionalization of cyclic peroxides are notoriously difficult due to the very low O-O bond dissociation energy. Plaktoride E is isolated from the Jamaican marine sponge platorits halichondrioides and contains a five-membered peroxide ring, with oxygen atoms linked to tertiary C4 and C6 centers. The methodology used for synthesizing highly substituted cyclic peroxides is novel and useful, and not only extends the field of Pd-catalyzed reactions, but also provides a convenient synthetic approach for the preparation of the 1,2-dioxolanes series. Plakortide E and plakortone B are bioactive, which means that the synthetic studies on them and their analogs are pivotal in drug discovery.

The field of robotic vision has advanced dramatically recently with the development of new range sensors. Tremendous progress has been made resulting in significant impact on areas such as robotic navigation, scene/environment understanding, and visual learning. This edited book provides a solid and diversified reference source for some of the most recent important advancements in the field of robotic vision. The book starts with articles that describe new techniques to understand scenes from 2D/3D data such as estimation of planar structures, recognition of multiple objects in the scene using different kinds of features as well as their spatial and semantic relationships, generation of 3D object models, approach to recognize partially occluded objects, etc. Novel techniques are introduced to improve 3D perception accuracy with other sensors such as a gyroscope, positioning accuracy with a visual servoing based alignment strategy for microassembly, and increasing object recognition reliability using related manipulation motion models. For autonomous robot navigation, different vision-based localization and tracking strategies and algorithms are discussed. New approaches using probabilistic analysis for robot navigation, online learning of vision-based robot control, and 3D motion estimation via intensity differences from a monocular camera are described. This collection will be beneficial to graduate students, researchers, and professionals working in the area of robotic vision.

This book covers the state-of-the-art technologies for positioning with nanometer resolutions and accuracies, particularly those based on piezoelectric actuators and MEMS actuators. The latest advances are described, including the design of nanopositioning devices, sensing and actuation technologies and control methods for nanopositioning. This is an ideal book for mechanical and electrical engineering students and researchers; micro and nanotechnology researchers and graduate students; as well as those working in the precision instrumentation or semiconductor industries.

Robotics for Cell Manipulation and Characterization provides fundamental principles underpinning robotic cell manipulation and characterization, state-of-the-art technical advances in micro/nano robotics, new discoveries of cell biology enabled by robotic systems, and their applications in clinical diagnosis and treatment. This book covers several areas, including robotics, control, computer vision, biomedical engineering and life sciences using understandable figures and tables to enhance readers' comprehension and pinpoint challenges and opportunities for biological and biomedical research.

Transfer printing (TP) is a class of techniques for the deterministic assembly of disparate micro/nanomaterials into functional devices, and has become an emerging suite of technologies for micro/nanofabrication. Systems enabled by transfer printing range from complex molecular-scale materials, to high-performance hard materials, to fully integrated devices. A variety of sub-techniques for different purposes have grown significantly in the past decade, leading to non-conventional electronics, optoelectronics, photovoltaics, and photonics, and enabling the development of non-planar and flexible electronics.Highlights breakthrough results and systems enabled by novel TP techniques.Highlights breakthrough results and systems enabled by novel TP techniques.Transfer Printing Technologies and Applications is a complete guide to transfer printing techniques and their cutting-edge applications. The first section of the book provides a solid grounding in transfer printing methods and the fundamentals behind these technologies. The second part of the book focuses on state-of-the-art applications enabled by transfer printing techniques, including areas such as flexible sensors, flexible transistors, wearable devices, thin film-based energy systems, flexible displays, microLED-based displays, metal films, and more. A concluding chapter addresses current challenges and future opportunities in this innovative field.Highlights breakthrough results and systems enabled by novel TP techniques.Highlights breakthrough results and systems enabled by novel TP techniques.This book is of interest to researchers and advanced students across nanotechnology, materials science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry, and biomedicine, as well as scientists, engineers, and R&D professionals involved with nanomaterials, micro- or nano-fabrication, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), display technology, biotechnology, and devices. Highlights breakthrough results and systems enabled by novel TP techniques. Highlights breakthrough results and systems enabled by novel TP techniques.Highlights breakthrough results and systems enabled by novel TP techniques.Highlights breakthrough results and systems enabled by novel TP techniques. Highlights breakthrough results and systems enabled by novel TP techniques.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the First Robotic Grasping and Manipulation Challenge, RGMC 2016, held at IROS 2016, Daejeon, South Korea, in October 2016.The 13 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and are describing the rules, results, competitor systems and future directions of the inaugural competition. The competition was designed to allow researchers focused on the application of robot systems to compare the performance of hand designs as well as autonomous grasping and manipulation solutions across a common set of tasks. The competition was comprised of three tracks that included hand-in-hand grasping, fully autonomous grasping, and simulation.

This book covers the state-of-the-art technologies for positioning with nanometer resolutions and accuracies, particularly those based on piezoelectric actuators and MEMS actuators. The latest advances are described, including the design of nanopositioning devices, sensing and actuation technologies and control methods for nanopositioning. This is an ideal book for mechanical and electrical engineering students and researchers; micro and nanotechnology researchers and graduate students; as well as those working in the precision instrumentation or semiconductor industries.

The field of robotic vision has advanced dramatically recently with the development of new range sensors. Tremendous progress has been made resulting in significant impact on areas such as robotic navigation, scene/environment understanding, and visual learning. This edited book provides a solid and diversified reference source for some of the most recent important advancements in the field of robotic vision. The book starts with articles that describe new techniques to understand scenes from 2D/3D data such as estimation of planar structures, recognition of multiple objects in the scene using different kinds of features as well as their spatial and semantic relationships, generation of 3D object models, approach to recognize partially occluded objects, etc. Novel techniques are introduced to improve 3D perception accuracy with other sensors such as a gyroscope, positioning accuracy with a visual servoing based alignment strategy for microassembly, and increasing object recognition reliability using related manipulation motion models. For autonomous robot navigation, different vision-based localization and tracking strategies and algorithms are discussed. New approaches using probabilistic analysis for robot navigation, online learning of vision-based robot control, and 3D motion estimation via intensity differences from a monocular camera are described. This collection will be beneficial to graduate students, researchers, and professionals working in the area of robotic vision.  

In his thesis, Xiaoyu Sun conducts the first total synthesis of all possible stereoisomers of plakortide E and also confirms the absolute configuration of natural plakortide E. Xiaoyu Sun subsequently converts Plakortide E methyl ester to plakortone B in a biomimetic conversion. Construction and functionalization of cyclic peroxides are notoriously difficult due to the very low O-O bond dissociation energy. Plaktoride E is isolated from the Jamaican marine sponge platorits halichondrioides and contains a five-membered peroxide ring, with oxygen atoms linked to tertiary C4 and C6 centers. The methodology used for synthesizing highly substituted cyclic peroxides is novel and useful, and not only extends the field of Pd-catalyzed reactions, but also provides a convenient synthetic approach for the preparation of the 1,2-dioxolanes series. Plakortide E and plakortone B are bioactive, which means that the synthetic studies on them and their analogs are pivotal in drug discovery.

This book describes the substantial progress recently made in the development of micro and nanorobotic systems, utilizing magnetic, optical, acoustic, electrical, and other actuation fields. It covers several areas of micro and nanorobotics including robotics, materials science, and biomedical engineering. Field-Driven Micro and Nanorobots for Biology and Medicine provides readers with fundamental physics at the micro and nano scales, state-of-the-art technical advances in field-driven micro and nanorobots, and applications in biological and biomedical disciplines.

As I left the milongas, the sentiments that stayed in my heart melt into colors and lines, weaved themselves together and urged me to draw. I simply obeyed, as I obeyed the divine sound of a beautiful song. This book is a dance. It is a dance that contains everything that I have felt, loved, and treasured in my tango journey.

Moving beyond past histories of Viet Nam that have focused on nationalist struggle, this volume brings together work by scholars who are re-examining centuries of Vietnamese history. Crossing borders and exploring ambiguities, the essays in "Viet Nam: Borderless Histories" draw on international archives and bring a range of inventive analytical approaches to the global, regional, national, and local narratives of Vietnamese history. Among the topics explored are the extraordinary diversity between north and south, lowland and highland, Viet and minority, and between colonial, Chinese, Southeast Asian, and dynastic influences. The result is an exciting new approach to Southeast Asia's past that uncovers the complex and rich history of Viet Nam.
"A wonderful introduction to the exciting work that a new generation of scholars is engaging in."--Liam C. Kelley, "International Journal of Asian Studies"