Operations Research Methods

This is a comprehensive research guide that describes both the key new techniques and more established methods. Every chapter discusses the merits and limitations of the various approaches and then pr

The past two decades have seen an explosion in the number of research articles relating to both the physiological and pathological responses evoked by nitric oxide generation. Despite this, accurate q

As two of the leading causes of death worldwide, heart disease and stroke represent a clear target for genomic research aimed at deciphering the genes and cellular pathways that underlie cardiovascul

With revenues from the top five therapeutic antibodies accounting for a majority of the recent pharmaceutical sales, the research and development in the field has exploded over the past several years

Based on the author's lecture notes and research, this well-illustrated and comprehensive text is one of the first to provide an introduction to image registration with particular emphasis on numeric

This detailed book aims to address the need for standardizing key steps in plant metabolomics research that is still considered a critical issue in the field. The collection unites diverse mass

This book expands on the previous volumes with new chapters exploring emerging themes and methodologies in bacterial virus research. The chapters in this book are divided into 4 parts and cover topics

This volume provides a comprehensive guide on the Cyr61 (Cysteine-rich 61) (CCN) family of proteins and genes from basic research to cutting-edge methodologies and state-of-the-art techniques. Chapter

Containing papers presented at the seventeenth in a series of biennial meetings organised by the Wessex Institute and first held in 1984, this book includes the latest research from scientists who per

QTL mapping remains a vibrant area of research in genetics. Proper and efficient statistical methods are crucial for QTL mapping to be fruitful, yet there are relatively few books covering these metho

Quantitative finance has become these last years a extraordinary field of research and interest as well from an academic point of view as for practical applications. At the same time, pension issu

A general class of powerful and flexible modeling techniques, spline smoothing has attracted a great deal of research attention in recent years and has been widely used in many application areas, from

In this 3 volume collection focusing on glycomics, readers will appreciate how such discoveries were made and how such methods can be applied for readers’ own research effortsEach chapter has been des

Intended for plant biologists with vast amounts of field data to sort and understand, and also for computer scientists interested in the tools and systems available for plant research, this text prese

Molecular biology has driven a powerful reductionist, or “molecule-c- tric,” approach to biological research in the last half of the 20th century. Red- tionism is the attempt to explain complex phenom

This well-organized and clearly written text has a unique focus on methods of identifying the joint effects of genes and environment on disease patterns. It follows the natural sequence of research,

If there is one aspect of current cancer research that represents a major ch- lenge in both novice and experienced researchers, it is the rapid advance in our understanding of the disease. Researchers

The sustained skin research efforts over the past decades has led to the accumulation of a significant collection of information on skin structure and physiology as well as on the pathogenesis of cuta

Reports of influenza-like illnesses date back to the Middle Ages, and outbreaks of influenza likely afflicted humans long before that. Over the last half century, influenza virus research has led to t

Since the first report of an engineered oncolytic virus, there has been a continuing and steady increase of interest in the field, and while bench research remains vital for the translation of researc

Plant genomics is a growing and constantly evolving field of study, one which has gained much ground in past years through the development of advanced research and data management tools. In Plant Gen

As one of the fastest growing fields of research in the 21st century, nanotechnology is sure to have an enormous impact on many aspects of our lives. Nanostructure Design: Methods and Protocols serve

This fifth edition of a toxicology reference is updated to reflect new research since the last edition was published five years ago. The framework of this edition follows that of previous editions. Th

Tibetan Thangka Painting is the only detailed description of the techniques and principles of the sacred art of Tibetan scroll painting. It is the distillation of research carried out over a period of

This book shows you not just how to use triangulation as a strategy of quality management, but also how to use it as an approach to designing and doing qualitative research in a more comprehensive way

First published in 1987, this book describes tissue (cell and organ) culture techniques which could be used at a critical predevelopment stage to screen for drug-inducing toxicity or to analyse the molecular mechanisms of toxicity at a later stage in parallel with investigative studies. This type of research has important ethical, financial and scientific implications. In particular, less animals and compound are required in in vitro research and more detailed information at the cellular and subcellular levels can be obtained. The volume brings together the once disparate knowledge of cultural techniques and thus provides an important reference work for industrial and academic toxicologists. It could also form a framework for discussion of potential improvements and modification of toxicity testing.

Despite its remote and seemingly rigorous environment, the Antarctic is the world's most important habitat for seals, currently supporting more seals than all other parts of the world combined. As various national Antarctic programmes were established to study these animals, the need to standardize techniques became apparent. This book, arising from work by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (Group of Specialists on Seals), gives a detailed account of well-tried and, where possible, agreed methodologies, techniques, procedures and rationale for the collection and initial analysis of data on the biology and population ecology of Antarctic seals. This volume will not only help facilitate comparisons between different regions of Antarctica, but will also provide a guide for those studying seals in other parts of the world and those carrying out research on other large mammal species.

Despite its remote and seemingly rigorous environment, the Antarctic is the world's most important habitat for seals, currently supporting more seals than all other parts of the world combined. As various national Antarctic programmes were established to study these animals, the need to standardize techniques became apparent. This book, arising from work by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (Group of Specialists on Seals), gives a detailed account of well-tried and, where possible, agreed methodologies, techniques, procedures and rationale for the collection and initial analysis of data on the biology and population ecology of Antarctic seals. This volume will not only help facilitate comparisons between different regions of Antarctica, but will also provide a guide for those studying seals in other parts of the world and those carrying out research on other large mammal species.

Human induced biodiversity loss is greater now than at any time in human history, with extinctions occurring at rates hundreds of times higher than background extinction levels. The field of biodiversity economics analyses the socio-economic causes of and solutions to biodiversity loss by combining the disciplines of economics, ecology and biology. This field has shown a remarkable degree of transformation over the past four decades and now incorporates the analysis of the entire diversity of biological resources within the living world. Biodiversity Economics presents a series of papers that show how bio-economic analysis can be applied to the examination and evaluation of the problem of various forms of biodiversity loss. Containing insightful bio-economic research by some of prominent practitioners in the field, this volume will be an essential research tool to those working on biodiversity issues in the academic, policy and private sectors.

Human induced biodiversity loss is greater now than at any time in human history, with extinctions occurring at rates hundreds of times higher than background extinction levels. The field of biodiversity economics analyses the socio-economic causes of and solutions to biodiversity loss by combining the disciplines of economics, ecology and biology. This field has shown a remarkable degree of transformation over the past four decades and now incorporates the analysis of the entire diversity of biological resources within the living world. Biodiversity Economics presents a series of papers that show how bio-economic analysis can be applied to the examination and evaluation of the problem of various forms of biodiversity loss. Containing insightful bio-economic research by some of prominent practitioners in the field, this volume will be an essential research tool to those working on biodiversity issues in the academic, policy and private sectors.

Until now, individuals interested in measuring biological signals non-invasively from typically developing children had few places to turn to find an overview of theory, methods, measures, and applications related to psychophysiology recordings in children. This volume briefly surveys the primary methods of psychophysiology that have been applied to developmental psychology research, what they have accomplished, and where the future lies. It outlines the practical issues that active developmental psychophysiology laboratories encounter and some solutions to deal with them. Developmental psychophysiology holds the key to forming the interface between structure and function necessary for the growth of developmental psychology.

This book presents an overview of modern Banach space theory. It contains sixteen papers that reflect the wide expanse of the subject. Articles are gathered into five sections according to methodology rather than the topics considered. The sections are: geometrical methods; homological methods; topological methods; operator theoretic methods; and also function space methods. Each section contains survey and research papers describing the state-of-the-art in the topic considered as well as some of the latest most important results. Researchers working in Banach space theory, functional analysis or operator theory will find much of interest here.

The first textbook on mathematical methods focusing on techniques for optical science and engineering, this text is ideal for upper division undergraduate and graduate students in optical physics. Containing detailed sections on the basic theory, the textbook places strong emphasis on connecting the abstract mathematical concepts to the optical systems to which they are applied. It covers many topics which usually only appear in more specialized books, such as Zernike polynomials, wavelet and fractional Fourier transforms, vector spherical harmonics, the z-transform, and the angular spectrum representation. Most chapters end by showing how the techniques covered can be used to solve an optical problem. Essay problems based on research publications and numerous exercises help to further strengthen the connection between the theory and its applications.

Thanks to high-speed computers and advanced algorithms, the important field of modelling multiphase flows is an area of rapid growth. This one-stop account – now in paperback, with corrections from the first printing – is the ideal way to get to grips with this topic, which has significant applications in industry and nature. Each chapter is written by an acknowledged expert and includes extensive references to current research. All of the chapters are essentially independent and so the book can be used for a range of advanced courses and the self-study of specific topics. No other book covers so many topics related to multiphase flow, and it will therefore be warmly welcomed by researchers and graduate students of the subject across engineering, physics, and applied mathematics.

This is the first book to explain how to use key methods in analytical political theory. The methods discussed include contractualism, reflective equilibrium, positive political theory, thought experiments and ideological analysis. Many discussions of political theory methods describe and justify these methods with little or no discussion of their application, emphasizing 'what is' and 'why do' over 'how to'. This book covers all three. Each chapter explains what kinds of problems in political theory might require researchers to use a particular method, the basic principles behind the method being proposed, and an analysis of how to apply it, including concrete principles of good practice. The book thus summarizes methodological ideas, grouped in one place and made accessible to students, and it makes innovative contributions to research methods in analytical political theory.

This is the first book to explain how to use key methods in analytical political theory. The methods discussed include contractualism, reflective equilibrium, positive political theory, thought experiments and ideological analysis. Many discussions of political theory methods describe and justify these methods with little or no discussion of their application, emphasizing 'what is' and 'why do' over 'how to'. This book covers all three. Each chapter explains what kinds of problems in political theory might require researchers to use a particular method, the basic principles behind the method being proposed, and an analysis of how to apply it, including concrete principles of good practice. The book thus summarizes methodological ideas, grouped in one place and made accessible to students, and it makes innovative contributions to research methods in analytical political theory.

With the advent of approximation algorithms for NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems, several techniques from exact optimization such as the primal-dual method have proven their staying power and versatility. This book describes a simple and powerful method that is iterative in essence and similarly useful in a variety of settings for exact and approximate optimization. The authors highlight the commonality and uses of this method to prove a variety of classical polyhedral results on matchings, trees, matroids and flows. The presentation style is elementary enough to be accessible to anyone with exposure to basic linear algebra and graph theory, making the book suitable for introductory courses in combinatorial optimization at the upper undergraduate and beginning graduate levels. Discussions of advanced applications illustrate their potential for future application in research in approximation algorithms.

With the advent of approximation algorithms for NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems, several techniques from exact optimization such as the primal-dual method have proven their staying power and versatility. This book describes a simple and powerful method that is iterative in essence and similarly useful in a variety of settings for exact and approximate optimization. The authors highlight the commonality and uses of this method to prove a variety of classical polyhedral results on matchings, trees, matroids and flows. The presentation style is elementary enough to be accessible to anyone with exposure to basic linear algebra and graph theory, making the book suitable for introductory courses in combinatorial optimization at the upper undergraduate and beginning graduate levels. Discussions of advanced applications illustrate their potential for future application in research in approximation algorithms.

In recent years the methods of modern differential geometry have become of considerable importance in theoretical physics and have found application in relativity and cosmology, high-energy physics and field theory, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and mechanics. This textbook provides an introduction to these methods - in particular Lie derivatives, Lie groups and differential forms - and covers their extensive applications to theoretical physics. The reader is assumed to have some familiarity with advanced calculus, linear algebra and a little elementary operator theory. The advanced physics undergraduate should therefore find the presentation quite accessible. This account will prove valuable for those with backgrounds in physics and applied mathematics who desire an introduction to the subject. Having studied the book, the reader will be able to comprehend research papers that use this mathematics and follow more advanced pure-mathematical expositions.

Inferring the precise locations and splicing patterns of genes in DNA is a difficult but important task, with broad applications to biomedicine. The mathematical and statistical techniques that have been applied to this problem are surveyed and organized into a logical framework based on the theory of parsing. Both established approaches and methods at the forefront of current research are discussed. Numerous case studies of existing software systems are provided, in addition to detailed examples that work through the actual implementation of effective gene-predictors using hidden Markov models and other machine-learning techniques. Background material on probability theory, discrete mathematics, computer science, and molecular biology is provided, making the book accessible to students and researchers from across the life and computational sciences. This book is ideal for use in a first course in bioinformatics at graduate or advanced undergraduate level, and for anyone wanting to kee