Since the introduction of recombinant human growth hormone and insulin a quarter century ago, protein therapeutics has greatly broadened the ho- zon of health care. Many patients suffering with life-threatening diseases or chronic dysfunctions, which were medically untreatable not long ago, can attest to the wonder these drugs have achieved. Although the ?rst generation of p- tein therapeutics was produced in recombinant Escherichia coli, most recent products use mammalian cells as production hosts. Not long after the ?rst p- duction of recombinant proteins in E. coli, it was realized that the complex tasks of most post-translational modi?cations on proteins could only be ef?ciently carried out in mammalian cells. In the 1990s, we witnessed a rapid expansion of mammalian-cell-derived protein therapeutics, chie?y antibodies. In fact, it has been nearly a decade since the market value of mammalian-cell-derived protein therapeutics surpassed that of those produced from E. coli. A common characteristic of recent antibody products is the relatively large dose required for effective therapy, demanding larger quantities for the treatment of a given disease. This, coupled with the broadening repertoire of protein drugs, has rapidly expanded the quantity needed for clinical applications. The increasing demand for protein therapeutics has not been met exclusively by construction of new manufacturing plants and increasing total volume capacity. More - portantly the productivity of cell culture processes has been driven upward by an order of magnitude in the past decade.

This open access book relates to the III Annual Conference hosted by The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation in December 2016. This event has summarized, analyzed and discussed the interim results, academic outputs and scientific achievements of the Russian Federal Targeted Programme “Research and Development in Priority Areas of Development of the Russian Scientific and Technological Complex for 2014–2020.” It contains 75 selected papers from 6 areas considered priority by the Federal Targeted Programme: computer science, ecology & environment sciences; energy and energy efficiency; lifesciences; nanoscience & nanotechnology and transport & communications. The chapters report the results of the 3-years research projects supported by the Programme and finalized in 2016.

Optics and photonics technologies are ubiquitous: they are responsible for the displays on smart phones and computing devices, optical fiber that carries the information in the internet, advanced precision manufacturing, enhanced defense capabilities, and a plethora of medical diagnostics tools. The opportunities arising from optics and photonics offer the potential for even greater societal impact in the next few decades, including solar power generation and new efficient lighting that could transform the nation's energy landscape and new optical capabilities that will be essential to support the continued exponential growth of the Internet. As described in the National Research Council report Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for our Nation, it is critical for the United States to take advantage of these emerging optical technologies for creating new industries and generating job growth. The report assesses the current state of optical science and engineering in the United States and abroad-including market trends, workforce needs, and the impact of photonics on the national economy. It identifies the technological opportunities that have arisen from recent advances in, and applications of, optical science and engineering. The report also calls for improved management of U.S. public and private research and development resources, emphasizing the need for public policy that encourages adoption of a portfolio approach to investing in the wide and diverse opportunities now available within photonics. Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for our Nation is a useful overview not only for policymakers, such as decision-makers at relevant Federal agencies on the current state of optics and photonics research and applications but also for individuals seeking a broad understanding of the fields of optics and photonics in many arenas.

New digital technologies offer many exciting opportunities to educators who are looking to develop better teaching practices. When technologies are new, however, the potential for beneficial and effective implementations and applications is not yet fully recognized. This book is intended to provide teachers and researchers with a wide range of ideas from researchers working to integrate the new technology of Augmented Reality into educational settings and processes. It is hoped that the research and theory presented here can support both teachers and researchers in future work with this exciting new technology. Contributors are: Miriam Adamková, Gilles Aldon, Panayiota Anastasi, Ferdinando Arzarello, Martina Babinská, Robert Bohdal, Francisco Botana, Constadina Charalambous, Eva Csandova, Omer Deperlioglu, Monika Dillingerová, Christos Dimopoulos, Jiri Dostal, Jihad El-Sana, Michael N. Fried, Maria Fuchsová, Marianthi Grizioti, Tomas Hlava, Markus Hohenwarter, Kateřina Jančaříková, Konstantinos Katzis, Lilla Korenova, Utku Köse, Zoltán Kovács,Blanka Kožík Lehotayová, Maria Kožuchová, Chronis Kynigos, Ilona-Elefteryja Lasica, Zsolt Lavicza, Álvaro Martínez, Efstathios Mavrotheris, Katerina Mavrou, Maria Meletiou-Mavrotheris, Georgios Papaioannou, Miroslava Pirháčová Lapšanská, Stavros Pitsikalis, Corinne Raffin, Tomás Recio, Cristina Sabena, Florian Schacht, Eva Severini, Martina Siposova, Zacharoula Smyrnaiou, Nayia Stylianidou, Osama Swidan, Christos Tiniakos, Melanie Tomaschko, Renata Tothova, Christina Vasou, and Ibolya Veress-Bágyi.

Future robots are expected to work closely and interact safely with real-world objects and humans alike. Sense of touch is important in this context, as it helps estimate properties such as shape, texture, hardness, material type and many more; provides action related information, such as slip detection; and helps carrying out actions such as rolling an object between fingers without dropping it. This book presents an in-depth description of the solutions available for gathering tactile data, obtaining aforementioned tactile information from the data and effectively using the same in various robotic tasks. The efforts during last four decades or so have yielded a wide spectrum of tactile sensing technologies and engineered solutions for both intrinsic and extrinsic touch sensors. Nowadays, new materials and structures are being explored for obtaining robotic skin with physical features like bendable, conformable, and stretchable. Such features are important for covering various body parts of robots or 3D surfaces. Nonetheless, there exist many more hardware, software and application related issues that must be considered to make tactile sensing an effective component of future robotic platforms. This book presents an in-depth analysis of various system related issues and presents the trade-offs one may face while developing an effective tactile sensing system. For this purpose, human touch sensing has also been explored. The design hints coming out of the investigations into human sense of touch can be useful in improving the effectiveness of tactile sensory modality in robotics and other machines. Better integration of tactile sensors on a robot’s body is prerequisite for the effective utilization of tactile data. The concept of semiconductor devices based sensors is an interesting one, as it allows compact and fast tactile sensing systems with capabilities such as human-like spatio-temporal resolution. This book presents a comprehensive description of semiconductor devices based tactile sensing. In particular, novel Piezo Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (POSFET) based approach for high resolution tactile sensing has been discussed in detail. Finally, the extension of semiconductors devices based sensors concept to large and flexile areas has been discussed for obtaining robotic or electronic skin. With its multidisciplinary scope, this book is suitable for graduate students and researchers coming from diverse areas such robotics (bio-robots, humanoids, rehabilitation etc.), applied materials, humans touch sensing, electronics, microsystems, and instrumentation. To better explain the concepts the text is supported by large number of figures.

In this book, a global team of experts from academia, research institutes and industry presents their vision on how new nano-chip architectures will enable the performance and energy efficiency needed for AI-driven advancements in autonomous mobility, healthcare, and man-machine cooperation. Recent reviews of the status quo, as presented in CHIPS 2020 (Springer), have prompted the need for an urgent reassessment of opportunities in nanoelectronic information technology. As such, this book explores the foundations of a new era in nanoelectronics that will drive progress in intelligent chip systems for energy-efficient information technology, on-chip deep learning for data analytics, and quantum computing. Given its scope, this book provides a timely compendium that hopes to inspire and shape the future of nanoelectronics in the decades to come.