Elsevier bv mär 1995 (5 risultati)

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Research into the basic mechanisms of photosynthesis has a long and distinguished history and has consistently been at the forefront of science. The success of this research, particularly in recent years, suggests that photosynthesis may turn out to be the first complex biological system to have its structure, function, and regulation described in rigorous chemical terms at the atomic level. It is likely that such knowledge will help us to tackle perhaps the most vital problem facing mankind, namely our need for a continuous and nonpolluting source of energy. The benefit may come by providing a 'blueprint'for new technologies able to carry out efficient conversion of solar energy based on the principles of biological systems, and/or creating highly efficient 'energy crops' sufficiently hardy to grow in a wide range of environments. The former is likely to involve new developments in material sciences while the latter will call on the rapidly advancing techniques of genetic engineering. The contents of this volume review some of the most important developments which are a part of the drive towards the overall goal of obtaining the complete description of the photosynthetic processes at the molecular level. The topics covered have been carefully selected and represent the wide spectrum of the subject.…

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - This is the 17th volume in an annual series of reviews of research in organizational behaviour. This volume cover such topics as the development of a theory of timing, a framework for the integration of micro- and macro-organizational behaviour, and population-level learning.…

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - This fourth volume in the series, dedicated entirely to the results of the first European study of the effects of long-term confinement and isolation. The volume continues to attempt to fulfill the aim of this series, to bring the findings and accomplishments in the field of space biology and medicine to a wider group of scientists than merely the relatively small group of biologists and physiologists currently involved in space experimentation.The contributions are not only nicely spread geographically with three chapters from the United States, two each from Russia, Europe, and Japan, they also offer a wide range of topics in the field, covering humans, animals , plants, cells, and even potential extraterrestrial beings.As before, not only problems investigated and results obtained are reviewed, but also some of the technical aspects peculiar to this field are treated. An example in this volume is the chapter on virtual environments by Ellis, which is meant to help investigators understand the opportunities that these techniques might offer for future investigations.In view of the limitations on flight opportunities and the constraints still inherent in orbital experimentation, it is also important to consider the information that can be obtained from studies on the ground. In addition to simulation studies like bed rest for human subjects (see the chapter by Edgerton et al. on neuromuscular adaptation), tail suspension of rats, and plants on a clinostat (see the chapter by Masuda et al.), there is the interesting possibility of using gravitropic mutants for studying the effects of weightlessness on plant growth as described by Takahashi and Suge.Two chapters are devoted to a review of the results on rats flown on nine Cosmos biosatellite flights between 1973 and 1989: the chapter by Krasnow deals with the neuromorphological effects of micro- and hypergravity; that by Popova and Grigoriev with the metabolic effects of spaceflight. The effects of weightlessness on heart and lung function in humans are reviewed in detail by Bonde-Petersen and Linnarson.While the study of humans, animals, and plants in spaceflight have taught us much about the effects of the space environment on living organisms, we still have a very limited understanding of the mechanisms operating in these effects. The chapter by Rijken et al. on the effects of gravity on the cellular response to epidermal growth factor demonstrates how, by a judicious use of experiments on the ground and in sounding rockets, the mechanism of a microgravity effect on cell growth could be unravelled.The question whether there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe has intrigued mankind for a long time. In the chapter by Coulter et al. on NASA's High Resolution Microwave Survey the project to search for the existence of such life is described. The postscript to this chapter tells how through an unfortunate decision of the U.S. Congress this project after a successful start is threatened with an untimely ending.…

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - The book focuses on a conceptual flaw in contemporary artificial intelligence and cognitive science. Many people have discovered diverse manifestations and facets of this flaw, but the central conceptual impasse is at best only partially perceived. Its consequences, nevertheless, visit themselves asdistortions and failures of multiple research projects - and make impossible the ultimate aspirations of the fields.The impasse concerns a presupposition concerning the nature of representation - that all representation has the nature of encodings: encodingism. Encodings certainly exist, butencodingism is at root logically incoherent; any programmatic research predicted on it is doomed too distortion and ultimate failure.The impasse and its consequences - and steps away from that impasse - are explored in a large number of projects and approaches. These include SOAR, CYC, PDP, situated cognition, subsumption architecture robotics, and the frame problems - a general survey of the current research in AI and Cognitive Science emerges.Interactivism, an alternative model of representation, is proposed and examined. …

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - A comprehensive overview of the current evolution of research in algorithms, architectures and compilation for parallel systems is provided by this publication.The contributions focus specifically on domains where embedded systems are required, either oriented to application-specific or to programmable realisations. These are crucial in domains such as audio, telecom, instrumentation, speech, robotics, medical and automotive processing, image and video processing, TV, multimedia, radar and sonar.The book will be of particular interest to the academic community because of the detailed descriptions of research results presented. In addition, many contributions feature the 'real-life' applications that are responsible for driving research and the impact of their specific characteristics on the methodologies is assessed.The publication will also be of considerable value to senior design engineers and CAD managers in the industrial arena, who wish either to anticipate the evolution of commercially available design tools or to utilize the presented concepts in their own R&D programmes.…