Advances in Evolutionary Algorithms

With the recent trends towards massive data sets and significant computational power, combined with evolutionary algorithmic advances evolutionary computation is becoming much more relevant to practice. Aim of the book is to present recent improvements, innovative ideas and concepts in a part of a huge EA field

Efficient Decision Support Systems

This series is directed to diverse managerial professionals who are leading the transformation of individual domains by using expert information and domain knowledge to drive decision support systems (DSSs). The series offers a broad range of subjects addressed in specific areas such as health care, business management, banking, agriculture, environmental improvement, natural resource and spatial management, aviation administration, and hybrid applications of information technology aimed to interdisciplinary issues. This book series is composed of three volumes: Volume 1 consists of general concepts and methodology of DSSs; Volume 2 consists of applications of DSSs in the biomedical domain; Volume 3 consists of hybrid applications of DSSs in multidisciplinary domains. The book is shaped decision support strategies in the new infrastructure that assists the readers in full use of the creative technology to manipulate input data and to transform information into useful decisions for decision makers

Medical Robotics

The first generation of surgical robots are already being installed in a number of operating rooms around the world. Robotics is being introduced to medicine because it allows for unprecedented control and precision of surgical instruments in minimally invasive procedures. So far, robots have been used to position an endoscope, perform gallbladder surgery and correct gastroesophogeal reflux and heartburn. The ultimate goal of the robotic surgery field is to design a robot that can be used to perform closed-chest, beating-heart surgery. The use of robotics in surgery will expand over the next decades without any doubt. Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) is a revolutionary approach in surgery. In MIS, the operation is performed with instruments and viewing equipment inserted into the body through small incisions created by the surgeon, in contrast to open surgery with large incisions. This minimizes surgical trauma and damage to healthy tissue, resulting in shorter patient recovery time. The aim of this book is to provide an overview of the state-of-art, to present new ideas, original results and practical experiences in this expanding area. Nevertheless, many chapters in the book concern advanced research on this growing area. The book provides critical analysis of clinical trials, assessment of the benefits and risks of the application of these technologies. This book is certainly a small sample of the research activity on Medical Robotics going on around the globe as you read it, but it surely covers a good deal of what has been done in the field recently, and as such it works as a valuable source for researchers interested in the involved subjects, whether they are currently “medical roboticists” or not

Demyelination Disorders

Demyelination disorders are among the most frequent neurological conditions. Types of these disorders include multiple sclerosis, Guillain Barré syndrome, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, entrapment neuropathies, and others, all of which can result in serious physical incapacity and diminished quality of life. This book examines various aspects of demyelination from clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic points of view. Chapters address different types of demyelination diseases, their associated mechanisms, and pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment approaches, among other topics

Aerospace medicine and biology: A cumulative index to a continuing bibliography (supplement 306)

This publication is a cumulative index to the abstracts contained in the Supplements 294 through 305 of Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography. It includes seven indexes - subject, personal author, corporate source, foreign technology, contract number, report number, and accession number

Diagnostic Fluidity: Working with Uncertainty and Mutability

Diagnostic procedures are emblematic of medical work. Scholars in the field of social studies of medicine identify diverse dimensions of diagnosis that point to controversies, processual qualities and contested evidence. In this anthology, diagnostic fluidity is seen to permeate diagnostic work in a wide range of contexts, from medical interactions in the clinic, domestic settings and other relations of affective work, to organizational structures, and in historical developments. The contributors demonstrate, each in their own way, how different agents ‘do diagnosis’, highlighting the multi-faceted elements of uncertainty and mutability integral to diagnostic work. At the same time, the contributors also show how in ‘doing diagnosis’ enactments of subjectivities, representations of cultural imaginaries, bodily processes, and socio-cultural changes contribute to configuring diagnostic fluidity in significant ways

The effects of neurocognitive and physical tasks on breathing and executive functioning in healthy versus concussed Canadian military members

When on active-duty, Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members may be exposed to dangers and repetitive sub-concussive impacts such as explosive devices, loud gunfire, and handto-hand physical combat. These individuals are at constant risk of experiencing a variety of injuries including concussions. During a concussion, damage may occur to neural and vascular tissues that can cause physiological changes in the brain. Abnormal breathing patterns may emerge, if there is damage to the brainstem or middle cerebral artery, which may reduce blood flow to the thalamus and brainstem and the respiratory control centres. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine differences between healthy and concussed military members when completing a neurocognitive and physical task on measures of breathing function. Two groups were recruited including a concussed and a healthy group. Participants included males and females between the ages of 18-59 years who were active military members. Healthy military members were required to have been absent of a concussion within the last 24 months. The concussed military members were required to have been diagnosed with at least 1 concussion by a medical professional within the previous 2-12 months. All participants had to have been absent of any debilitating injury or condition which would prevent them from safely engaging in physical activity or any other neurological disorder that have may altered their results and performance. Although a concussion is classified as a neurological disorder, the participant must not have had any other neurological disorders. All participants were also required to be absent of any previous existing respiratory disorders. [...