Metamaterials Liu, Ruopeng; Cui, Tie Jun; Smith, David R
2010, 2009, 20091005, 2009-11-15
eBook
Metamaterials:Theory, Design, and Applications goes beyond left-handed materials (LHM) or negative index materials (NIM) and focuses on recent research activity. Included here is an introduction to ...optical transformation theory, revealing invisible cloaks, EM concentrators, beam splitters, and new-type antennas, a presentation of general theory on artificial metamaterials composed of periodic structures, coverage of a new rapid design method for inhomogeneous metamaterials, which makes it easier to design a cloak, and new developments including but not limited to experimental verification of invisible cloaks, FDTD simulations of invisible cloaks, the microwave and RF applications of metamaterials, sub-wavelength imaging using anisotropic metamaterials, dynamical metamaterial systems, photonic metamaterials, and magnetic plasmon effects of metamaterials. TOC:Preface.- Acknowledgments.- Table of Contents.- List of Contributors.- Introduction to Metamaterials.- Optical Transformation Theory.- General Theory on Artificial Metamaterials.- Rapid Design of Metamaterials.- Broadband and Low-Loss Non-Resonant Metamaterials.- Experiment on Cloaking Devices.- Finite-Difference Time-Domain Modeling of Electromagnetic Cloaks.- Compensated Anisotropic Metamaterials: Manipulating Sub-Wavelength Images.- The Dynamical Study of Metamaterial Systems.- Photonic Metamaterials Based on Fractal Geometry.- Magnetic Plasmon Modes Introduced by the Coupling Effect in Metamaterials.- Enhancing Optical Coupling with Metamaterials.- Wideband and Low Loss Metamaterials for Microwave and RF Applications: Fast Algorithm and Antenna Design.- Experiments and Applications of Metamaterials in Microwave Regime.- Left-handed Transmission Line of Low Pass and Its Applications.- Glossary.- Index.
Highlights • Vaccine hesitancy is a complex issue driven by a variety of context-specific factors. • Most studies were conducted in Europe and the Americas, with a two-fold increase in research on ...this topic during the period 2007–2012. • Determinants examined are mostly from classic models (e.g., Health Belief Model) which do not adequately account for contextual influences.
This book provides engineers with the safety and risk assessment tools and techniques they need to work effectively in any safety or reliability critical environment. These tools are primarily ...statistical. Where this book succeeds is by meeting the needs of an applied audience by setting these tools in the context of the design and operation of safety related processes and systems. Now in its Eighth Edition, this is regarded as the core reference in this field, and the success of its approach is reflected in the popularity of this standard work. This book deals with all aspects of reliability, safety-related systems, and the assessment and management of risk in a simple and straightforward way, pre-supposing no prior knowledge and dealing simply and realistically with numerical data by using the minimum of mathematical and technical jargon.
The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) degrades individual proteins in a highly regulated fashion and is responsible for the degradation of misfolded, damaged, or unneeded cellular proteins. During ...the past 20 years, investigators have established a critical role for the UPS in essentially every cellular process, including cell cycle progression, transcriptional regulation, genome integrity, apoptosis, immune responses, and neuronal plasticity. At the center of the UPS is the proteasome, a large and complex molecular machine containing a multicatalytic protease complex. When the efficiency of this proteostasis system is perturbed, misfolded and damaged protein aggregates can accumulate to toxic levels and cause neuronal dysfunction, which may underlie many neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, many cancers rely on robust proteasome activity for degrading tumor suppressors and cell cycle checkpoint inhibitors necessary for rapid cell division. Thus, proteasome inhibitors have proven clinically useful to treat some types of cancer, especially multiple myeloma. Numerous cellular processes rely on finely tuned proteasome function, making it a crucial target for future therapeutic intervention in many diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, cystic fibrosis, atherosclerosis, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, and cancer. In this review, we discuss the structure and function of the proteasome, the mechanisms of action of different proteasome inhibitors, various techniques to evaluate proteasome function in vitro and in vivo, proteasome inhibitors in preclinical and clinical development, and the feasibility for pharmacological activation of the proteasome to potentially treat neurodegenerative disease.
Continued declines in coral reef health over the past three decades have been punctuated by severe mass coral bleaching‐induced mortality events that have grown in intensity and frequency under ...climate change. Intensive global research efforts have therefore persistently focused on bleaching phenomena to understand where corals bleach, when and why—resulting in a large—yet still somewhat patchy—knowledge base. Particularly catastrophic bleaching‐induced coral mortality events in the past 5 years have catalyzed calls for a more diverse set of reef management tools, extending far beyond climate mitigation and reef protection, to also include more aggressive interventions. However, the effectiveness of these various tools now rests on rapidly assimilating our knowledge base of coral bleaching into more integrated frameworks. Here, we consider how the past three decades of intensive coral bleaching research has established the basis for complex biological and environmental networks, which together regulate outcomes of bleaching severity. We discuss how we now have enough scaffold for conceptual biological and environmental frameworks underpinning bleaching susceptibility, but that new tools are urgently required to translate this to an operational system informing—and testing—bleaching outcomes. Specifically, adopting network models that can fully describe and predict metabolic functioning of coral holobionts, and how this functioning is regulated by complex doses and interactions among environmental factors. Identifying knowledge gaps limiting operation of such models is the logical step to immediately guide and prioritize future experiments and observations. We are at a time‐critical point where we can implement new capacity to resolve how coral bleaching patterns emerge from complex biological–environmental networks, and so more effectively inform rapidly evolving ecological management and social adaptation frameworks aimed at securing the future of coral reefs.
Intensive global research efforts over the past three decades have focused on the coral bleaching phenomena to understand when and why it occurs, resulting in a large—yet still somewhat patchy—knowledge base. We consider how these efforts have established the basis for complex biological and environmental networks as conceptual frameworks. However, new tools are required to translate these frameworks into operational systems that can more effectively predict bleaching outcomes that are urgently needed to inform rapidly evolving ecological management and support social adaptation.
Moderately elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) is a strong modifiable risk factor for vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Prospectively, elevated tHcy is associated with cognitive ...decline, white matter damage, brain atrophy, neurofibrillary tangles, and dementia. Most homocysteine-lowering trials with folate and vitamins B6 and or B12 tested as protective agents against cognitive decline were poorly designed by including subjects unlikely to benefit during the trial period. In contrast, trials in high-risk subjects, which have taken into account the baseline B vitamin status, show a slowing of cognitive decline and of atrophy in critical brain regions, results that are consistent with modification of the Alzheimer's disease process. Homocysteine may interact with both risk factors and protective factors, thereby identifying people at risk but also providing potential strategies for early intervention. Public health steps to slow cognitive decline should be promoted in individuals who are at risk of dementia, and more trials are needed to see if simple interventions with nutrients can prevent progression to dementia.
Nitrogen heterocycles are among the most significant structural components of pharmaceuticals. Analysis of our database of U.S. FDA approved drugs reveals that 59% of unique small-molecule drugs ...contain a nitrogen heterocycle. In this review we report on the top 25 most commonly utilized nitrogen heterocycles found in pharmaceuticals. The main part of our analysis is divided into seven sections: (1) three- and four-membered heterocycles, (2) five-, (3) six-, and (4) seven- and eight-membered heterocycles, as well as (5) fused, (6) bridged bicyclic, and (7) macrocyclic nitrogen heterocycles. Each section reveals the top nitrogen heterocyclic structures and their relative impact for that ring type. For the most commonly used nitrogen heterocycles, we report detailed substitution patterns, highlight common architectural cores, and discuss unusual or rare structures.
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