Books published by Nova Science Publishers Inc

The federal government''s demand for information technology (IT) is ever increasing. In recent years, as federal agencies have modernised their operations, put more of their services online, and improved their information security profiles, their need for computing power and data storage resources has grown. Accordingly, this growing demand has led to a dramatic rise in the number of federal data centres and a corresponding increase in operational costs. In response, the Office of Management and Budget''s (OMB) Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) launched the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) in 2010 to reduce the growing number of centres. This book reports on the progress and challenges of the 24 agencies required to participate in the Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI).

The Medicare program serves as the healthcare coverage provider to over 58 million beneficiaries. In serving the over age 65 population, Medicare accounts for a large share of total opioid prescriptions. In 2016, one out of every three beneficiaries was prescribed an opioid through Medicare Part D. While many Medicare beneficiaries with serious pain-related conditions are being properly prescribed opioids, there is mounting evidence of opioid misuse in the Medicare system. This book looks at a proposed programs which seek to increase screening and thus, early detection of potential opioid use disorder upon entry into the Medicare program.

The globalisation of trade in goods and services has opened up new and more and more vast markets and so financial markets have triggered sharp growth in investment portfolios and large movements of short-term capital, with borrowers and investors interacting through a more and more unified market. Cyberspace is a global network of computers linked by high-speed data lines and wireless systems and so cyberspace can strengthen national and global governance. Financial crimes are types of economic crimes which implicate using instruments and institutions of the financial market for getting financial profits at the expense of other market actors. Insider trading is basically when a corporate insider or another party in possession of proprietary non-public information trades upon it. The insider trading policy is an aspect of a company''s internal governance making certain corporate transparency is preserved upholding investor confidence. Insider trading is far from generic propagated through various means and brought about by various market participants. Money laundering is the course whereby criminals mask the true origin and ownership of the earnings of their criminal activities permitting them to keep control over these profits and, in due course, to stipulate a legitimate cover for their source of income and the financing of their criminal actions. Crypto-currencies have been portrayed as an instrument making possible illegal activity, as they advance a setting for individuals to create, transfer, launder and steal unlawful funds with anonymity. Terrorism produces governments to be more vigilant with private financial transactions to avert funding of terrorist activities from abroad. Financial crimes contribute to terrorist financing.

This compilation titled "Laser Therapy: Types, Uses, and Safety" focuses on varied aspects of laser (photobiomodulation, PBM) therapy ranging from types of lasers, parameters of optical radiation determining its biological activity and therapeutic action, basic and modern techniques, mitochondrial effects of laser for therapeutics to the clinical use of PBM in treating various medical conditions and its use in surgery. The authors discuss parameters of optical radiation of low intensity determining its biological activity and therapeutic action, basic techniques and modern technologies, and mitochondrial effects of laser therapy. This book provides the most up-to-date information on recent clinical and research trials and clinical uses as well as catalogs the optimal therapeutic settings for a myriad of disease states. The book describes the use of PBM in dentistry, tissue repair and regeneration, treatment of fibromyalgia, muscle fatigue, injury, regeneration and repair, hearing loss, osteoarthritis, neurosurgery, gynecological diseases, snakebite envenomation, acute and chronic respiratory diseases, hypertension, relieving symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage, venous ulcer healing, treatment of inflammation, and its synergism with physical exercise in treatment of obesity. Further, the role of laser therapy in drug development and in enhancing drug delivery has been discussed. Lastly, we have discussed the evolving role of optogenetics using laser lights in elucidating the molecular mechanism in various pathologies. The authors have critically discussed the uses and side-effects of laser therapy and have highlighted the future directions and approaches to get the best outcome. Altogether, this book will serve as a helpful guide on how PBM could play a role in providing daily care to the patients and enlighten upcoming students and researchers.

In the first chapter of Gyroscopes: Types, Functions and Applications, the operating principle, types and applications of fiber-optic gyroscopes are summarized, and a novel slow light gyroscope based on coupled resonators is introduced. Following this, two signal processing techniques are discussed, each for a different type of gyroscope noise. These two techniques are then combined to produce a general technique for improving the accuracy of a gyroscope. The main methods of creating compact passive optical gyroscopes and their development trends are examined in the closing chapter.

This is a comprehensive list of all the significant battles from ancient time through 1904.

Oxytocin is a neurohypophysial hormone that consists of nine amino acids which are synthesised in the paraventricular, supraoptic, and accessory nuclei of the hypothalamus. Oxytocin is released in systemic blood circulation through the posterior pituitary gland, where it acts as hormone, regulating a range of physiological functions. It is involved in learning and memory, sensory and motor regulation via the spinal cord and regulation of the reproductive system. The quality and stability of one''s romantic relationship can impact overall well-being and health, leading researchers to search for the mechanisms that underlie the development of relationship discord versus those that foster satisfaction. Within this field, there has been recent attention towards biological variables, with oxytocin being at the forefront due to its established role in pair bonding in both animals and humans. A review is presented which suggests the involvement of the oxitocinergic system in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal-axis during pubertal development and social cognition in mammals. The closing study presents data which indicate that oxytocin has actions in different brain areas and is involved with spine-specific plastic effects, and modulates the dynamic neural sex steroid actions and the processing of context-dependent stimuli by adapting the neuronal and synaptic structure to the reproductive status and the social experience in mice.

Wound healing is a complex cascade of events that led to reconstruct a damaged tissue with cellular and biological mechanisms. A Closer Look at Wound Infections and Healing first reviews the treatments mentioned in traditional Iranian medicine sources for various wounds. The various antibiotic alternative therapies that could be used against antimicrobial resistant bacteria in wound infections are reviewed in detail. The authors report on the complex role of estrogens and estrogenic derivatives in the wound healing process, with a focus on their therapeutic uses. The penultimate chapter explores the impact of photobiomodulation therapy on wound healing and the basic biochemical reactions involved. Photobiomodulation therapy involves the use of low-powered light emitting diodes, lasers or broadband light, mostly in the visible red and near infrared light spectrum. Postoperative surgical wound infection in the lumbar spine is unfortunately a common and potentially devastating complication. It is associated with increased morbidity and the need for further surgery. The authors discuss treatment of surgical wound infection centered on surgical debridement

Halloysite is a natural clay mineral that belongs to the kaolin group. Its chemical formula is Al2(OH)4Si2O5.nH2O. Primarily, this mineral is an ideal nanofiller for polymer composites, but it is also utilised in the manufacture of ceramic wares and in the encapsulation of drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. The authors present details regarding a simple, rapid, high-yield, and low-temperature synthetic approach for the in-situ growth of noble metal nanoparticles in the interior of halloysite nanotubes. Benefits of halloysite nanotubes for polymeric structures and technical applications in various fields are highlighted, particularly their thermal stability, mechanical strength, and non-flammability. The closing chapter focuses on the latest research concerning halloysite nanotubes applications in different fields such as biomedicine and pharmacotherapy, food packaging, agriculture, water treatment, catalysis and antifouling.

This book is a comprehensive compilation of all reports, testimony, correspondence and other publications issued by the GAO (Government Accountability Office) during the month of July, grouped according to topics. This book is focused on the following topics: Financial Markets and Institutions; Government Operations; National Defense.

The dominant theme of this book is to introduce the different path planning methods and present some of the most appropriate ones for robotic routing; methods that are capable of running on a variety of robots and are resistant to disturbances; being real-time, being autonomous, and the ability to identify high-risk areas and risk management are the other features that will be mentioned in the introduction of the methods. The introduction of the profound significance of the robots and delineation of the navigation and routing theme is provided in the first chapter of the book. The second chapter is concerned with the subject of routing in unknown environments. In the first part of this chapter, the family of bug algorithms including are described. In the following, several conventional methods are submitted. The last part of this chapter is dedicated to the introduction of two recently developed routing methods. In Chapter 3, routing is reviewed in the known environment in which the robot either utilizes the created maps by extraneous sources or makes use of the sensor in order to prepare the maps from the local environment. The robot path planning relying on the robot vision sensors and applicable computing hardware are concentrated in the fourth chapter. The first part of this chapter deals with routing methods supported mapping capabilities. The second part manages the routing dependent on the vision sensor, typically known as the best sensor, within the routing subject. The movement of two-dimensional robots with two or three degrees of freedom is analyzed within the third part of this chapter. In Chapter 5, the performance of a few of the foremost important routing methods initiating from the second to fourth chapters is conferred regarding the implementation in various environments. The first part of this chapter is engaged in the implementation of the algorithms Bug1, Bug2, and Distbug on the pioneering robot. In the second part, a theoretical technique is planned to boost the robot''s performance in line with obstacle collision avoidance. This method, underlying the tangential escape, seeks to proceed with the robot through various obstacles with curved corners. In the third and fourth parts of this chapter, path planning in different environments is preceded in the absence and the presence of danger space. Accordingly, four approaches, named artificial fuzzy potential field, linguistic technique, Markov decision making processes, and fuzzy Markov decision making have been proposed in two following parts and enforced on the Nao humanoid robot.

Since the Nobel Laureate Ilya Prigogine''s dissipative structures and the outstanding work by Maturana and Varela, an exhaustive idea of what human mind is has lost its fascinating value and did not fund an epistemology anymore, falling down in the abrupt concept of a machinery or a mechanism. A failure, somehow, in interpreting what is life and the human being, arose from the dismiss of a sound epistemology or a basilar philosophic foundation of biology, which yet found an interesting contribution with Maturana''s and Varela''s scientific efforts. In this book, we attempted to build a new epistemological model of life and the human mind taking into account the intriguing model of Prigogine''s dissipative structure. Our model addresses, for the first time, three modalities of dissipation, besides dissipation in the thermodynamic field, introducing a Shannon''s dissipation and a relational dissipation, able to give suggestive insights why life arose, mind developed and humans engage relationships. A new hypothesis on the origin of mind is presented. The book is exposed as an encouraging occasion to deepen our biological fundamental rules, giving amazing suggestion on our personal and social behaviours. Finally, it suggests a new psychotherapeutic approach to address important concerns about relation and affective life.

Serum albumin is a large protein present in cow serum protein (BSA, Bovine Serum Albumin) rich in essential amino acids and compounds with disulfide bridges and thiol groups. This protein passes into breast milk from the bloodstream by diffusion, has antioxidant capacity and protects fats from oxidation. Albumin has the ability to inhibit tumor factors and bind to fat, mobilize them in the body to perform other functions such as obtaining energy or forming membranes. It is also able to block the conversion of angiotensin I into angiotensin II (vasoconstrictor) which gives it antihypertensive action. In addition, it has the ability to reduce cholesterol absorption, complex heavy metals and is an opioid agonist (acts on opioid receptors and promotes analgesia). BSA is the most studied and produced protein worldwide in the last 80 years. This protein brings large dividends to the world economy with a very prominent and favorable annual growth at a cost of 100 USD per gram. This book brings new contributions to the science and industry of this biopolymer. The audience of this book is very wide from students, teachers and researchers (doctors, pharmacists, biochemists and industrialists of this sector). Therefore, this book has a great future and many readers to whom it is addressed.