This book is based on the lecture notes of a one-semester course on black hole astrophysics given by the author and is aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in astrophysics. The material included goes beyond that found in classic textbooks and presents details on astrophysical manifestations of black holes. In particular, jet physics and detailed accounts of objects like microquasars, active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, and ultra-luminous X-ray sources are covered, as well as advanced topics like black holes in alternative theories of gravity. The author avoids unnecessary technicalities and to some degree the book is self-contained. The reader will find some basic general relativity tools in Chapter 1. The appendices provide some additional mathematical details that will be useful for further study, and a guide to the bibliography on the subject.
This textbook presents the basics of philosophy that are necessary for the student and researcher in science in order to better understand scientific work. The approach is not historical but formative: tools for semantical analysis, ontology of science, epistemology, and scientific ethics are presented in a formal and direct way. The book has two parts: one with the general theory and a second part with application to some problems such as the interpretation of quantum mechanics, the nature of mathematics, and the ontology of spacetime. The book addresses questions such as "What is meaning?", "What is truth?", "What are truth criteria in science?", "What is a theory?", "What is a model?" "What is a datum?", "What is information?", "What does it mean to understand something?", "What is space?", "What is time?", "How are these concepts articulated in science?" "What are values?" "What are the limits of science?", and many more. The philosophical views presented are "scientific" in the sense that they are informed by current science, they are relevant for scientific research, and the method adopted uses the hypothetical-deductive approach that is characteristic of science. The results and conclusions, as any scientific conclusion, are open to revision in the light of future advances. Hence, this philosophical approach opposes to dogmatic philosophy. Supported by end-of-chapter summaries and a list of special symbols used, the material will be of interest for students and researchers in both science and philosophy. The second part will appeal to physicists and mathematicians.
This book explains the theory and application of evolutionary computer vision, a new paradigm where challenging vision problems can be approached using the techniques of evolutionary computing. This methodology achieves excellent results for defining fitness functions and representations for problems by merging evolutionary computation with mathematical optimization to produce automatic creation of emerging visual behaviors. In the first part of the book the author surveys the literature in concise form, defines the relevant terminology, and offers historical and philosophical motivations for the key research problems in the field. For researchers from the computer vision community, he offers a simple introduction to the evolutionary computing paradigm. The second part of the book focuses on implementing evolutionary algorithms that solve given problems using working programs in the major fields of low-, intermediate- and high-level computer vision. This book will be of value to researchers, engineers, and students in the fields of computer vision, evolutionary computing, robotics, biologically inspired mechatronics, electronics engineering, control, and artificial intelligence.
With the increased incidence of HPV-related genital diseases, including premalignant and malignant penile lesions, urologists and practitioners in general face numerous difficult challenges when attempting to diagnose genital lesions correctly. Despite the importance of genital lesions in the male, there are few books on the subject in the English medical literature. Male Genital Lesions will serve as an invaluable aid to the differential diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections, benign dermatological genital lesions, and premalignant and malignant genital disorders. More than 700 high-definition full-color figures of common disease presentations are included, with legends describing real clinical cases. The illustrations are supported by a concise, up-to-date text that describes etiology, pathology, clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, and treatment options for the individual diseases.
From preconception care through all aspects of care of the pregnant mother and newborn infant, Clinical Obstetrics provides comprehensive, authoritative information on today’s obstetrics and maternal-fetal medicine. The fourth edition has been streamlined with concise chapters summarizing clinical content for busy practitioners. The eBook provides expanded content and exciting new animations and interactive decision-making algorithms. Together, the print and eBook offer residents, trainees, and all obstetrics and maternal-fetal practitioners a comprehensive resource featuring the most up-to-date guidelines, decision algorithms, and evidence for clinical practice.
This book deals with a series of topics on the cutting edge of nonlinear science, striking a balance between theory and experiment. It consists of two innovative introductory presentations on dynamical systems and fluid dynamics and six chapters on advanced research. A nontrivial interrelation between the different topics becomes apparent throughout the book as an indication of the underlying unity and genericity of nonlinear phenomena. There is a continuous emphasis on conceptual issues often introduced via concrete examples. A common feature is that most of the systems under study are extended, nonhomogeneous and far from equilibrium. The book also exhibits an interesting interplay between deterministic and stochastic approaches.
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