The book "Applied Fracture Mechanics" presents a collection of articles on application of fracture mechanics methods to materials science, medicine, and engineering. In thirteen chapters, a wide range of topics is discussed, including strength of biological tissues, safety of nuclear reactor components, fatigue effects in pipelines, environmental effects on fracture among others. In addition, the book presents mathematical and computational methods underlying the fracture mechanics applications, and also developments in statistical modeling of fatigue. The work presented in this book will be useful, effective, and beneficial to mechanical engineers, civil engineers, and material scientists from industry, research, and education.

The book addresses the control issues such as stability analysis, control synthesis and filter design of Markov jump systems with the above three types of TPs, and thus is mainly divided into three parts. Part I studies the Markov jump systems with partially unknown TPs. Different methodologies with different conservatism for the basic stability and stabilization problems are developed and compared. Then the problems of state estimation, the control of systems with time-varying delays, the case involved with both partially unknown TPs and uncertain TPs in a composite way are also tackled. Part II deals with the Markov jump systems with piecewise homogeneous TPs. Methodologies that can effectively handle control problems in the scenario are developed, including the one coping with the asynchronous switching phenomenon between the currently activated system mode and the controller/filter to be designed. Part III focuses on the Markov jump systems with memory TPs. The concept of σ-mean square stability is proposed such that the stability problem can be solved via a finite number of conditions. The systems involved with nonlinear dynamics (described via the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy model) are also investigated. Numerical and practical examples are given to verify the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results. Finally, some perspectives and future works are presented to conclude the book.

This is an introduction to logarithmic Sobolev inequalities with some important applications to mathematical statistical physics. Royer begins by gathering and reviewing the necessary background material on selfadjoint operators, semigroups, Kolmogorov diffusion processes, and solutions of stochastic differential equations.

With its unique, singular focus on the clinical aspect of cardiac arrhythmias, Clinical Arrhythmology and Electrophysiology: A Companion to Braunwald's Heart Disease makes it easy to apply today's most up-to-date guidelines for diagnosis and treatment. An expert author team provides clear, clinically focused guidance on all types of cardiac arrhythmias, including practical techniques for managing complex patients. Find the information you need quickly with a consistent organization in all chapters, written to a template that shows every arrhythmia type in a similar manner. Access the fully searchable contents online at www.expertconsult.com, in addition to downloadable images and dynamic video clips. Fully understand the rationale for treatment of specific arrhythmias with practical techniques that are grounded in the most recent basic science. Stay up to date with new chapters on molecular mechanisms of cardiac electrical activity, cardiac ion channels, ventricular tachycardia in nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy, epicardial ventricular tachycardia, ventricular arrhythmias in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, ventricular arrhythmias in inherited channelopathies, ventricular arrhythmias in congenital heart disease, atrial arrhythmias in congenital heart disease, and complications of catheter ablation of cardiac arrhythmias. View videos of 27 key techniques online, including optical mapping of reentrant ventricular arrhythmias, 3-dimensional mapping of arrhythmias using different mapping and navigation modalities, and fluoroscopy images illustrating techniques for electrophysiologic catheter positioning, atrial septal puncture, and pericardial access. Gain a new understanding of hot topics such as mechanisms of arrhythmias, electrophysiologic testing, mapping and navigation modalities, ablation energy sources, sinus node dysfunction, conduction disturbances, atrial tachyarrhythmias, preexcitation syndromes and all types of ventricular and supraventricular tachycardias.

Ion channels are intimately involved in the everyday physiological functions that enable us to live a full and varied life. When disease strikes, malfunction of ion channels or their dependent is often involved, either as the cause or the effect of the illness. Thus, billions of dollars have been, and still are being, invested in research to understand the physiological and pathophysiological functions of ion channels in an attempt to develop novel therapeutic treatments for a wide range of diseases. This book provides a comprehensive overview of ion channel structure and function. It comprises two major parts. Part one is an introductory overview of the ion channel superfamily and the generic aspects of ion channel function. This part also reviews the methodologies by which ion channel function can be studied from the perspective of performing detailed biophysical characterization through to the deployment of high throughput approaches for identifying novel ion channel ligands. Part two of the book provides an in-depth review of the individual ion channel subfamilies and, as such, is subdivided into four broad sections: Voltage-Gated Ion Channels, Extracellular Ligand-Gated Ion Channels, Intracellular Ligand-Gated Ion Channels, and Polymodal-Gated Ion Channels, with each chapter focused on specific family members. These chapters have been written by world leading experts and provide a detailed overview of the structure, biophysics, localization, pharmacology, physiology, and disease relevance of each particular ion channel subfamily. Reviewing both the basic principles of ion channel function and providing a detailed up-to-date review of the phsyiological and pharmacological aspects of individual ion channel sub-families, this book constitutes both an excellent introduction to the field for non-specialists, as well as a highly valuable reference text for experienced researchers already working in the ion channel area.

This volume is a state of the art look at our understanding of joint development in the crust. Answers are provided for such questions as the mechanisms by which joints are initiated, the factors controlling the path they follow during the propagation process, and the processes responsible for the arrest of joints. Many of the answers to these questions can be inferred from the geometry of joint surface morphology and joint patterns. Joints are a record of the orientation of stress at the time of propagation and as such they are also useful records of ancient stress fields, regional and local. Because outcrop and subsurface views of joints are limited, statistical techniques are required to characterize joints and joint sets. Finally, joints are subject to post-propagation stresses that further localize deformation and are the focus for the development of new structures.