Open Access Books

Wearable athlete support systems are a popular technology for performance enhancement in sports. The complex signal and data analysis on these systems is often tackled with pattern recognition techniques like classification. The implementation of classification algorithms on mobile hardware is called embedded classification. Thereby, technical challenges arise from the restricted computational power, battery capacity and size of such mobile systems. The accuracy-cost tradeoff describes the two conflicting design goals of embedded classification systems; the accuracy and the computational cost of a classifier. A data analysis system should be as accurate as possible and, at the same time, as cheap as required for an implementation on a mobile system with restricted resources. Thus, accuracy and cost have to be simultaneously considered in the design phase of the algorithms. Furthermore, an accurate modeling of classification systems, a precise estimation of the expected accuracy and energy efficient algorithms are needed. The first main goal of this thesis was to develop design considerations to support the solution of the accuracy-cost tradeoff that occurs during embedded classification system design. The success of wearable technology in sports originates in several application opportunities. A wearable system can collect data in the field without the restrictions of a lab environment or capture volume. Data with realistic variation and a high number of trials can be used to analyze the true field performance as well as its long-term progress over time. Real-time data processing allows to support athletes and coaches with augmented feedback in the field. Therefore, wearable systems enable new opportunities for the analysis of athletic performance. The second main goal of this thesis was to illustrate the benefits and opportunities of wearable athlete support systems with three application examples. This thesis presents applications for plyometric training, golf putting and swimming. The applications were realized as body sensor networks (BSNs) and analyzed kinematic data that were acquired with inertial measurement units (IMUs). The plyometric training application targeted the ground contact time calculation in drop jump exercises. The presented algorithm used a hidden markov model to calculate the ground contact with high accuracy. The ground contact time is an important training parameter to assess athlete performance and cannot be visually assessed. The golf putt application realized a system for technique training in the field. It featured an algorithm for automatic putt detection and parameter extraction as a basis for augmented feedback training applications. Long-term kinematic golf training data provided new insights in the progress of golf putting. The swimming application realized an unobtrusive swimming exercise tracker. The system was able to classify the four swimming styles, turns and breaks based on the head kinematics. Furthermore, an algorithm to classify long-term fatigue that occurs in a 90 min swimming exercise was presented. The swimming style, turn and break classification was implemented as embedded classification system on a BSN sensor node. This application underlines the applicability of the presented design considerations for solving the accuracy-cost tradeoff. The contributions of this thesis are considerations for the design of embedded classification systems and application examples that illustrate the benefits of wearable athlete support systems. The focus was to provide practical support for the solution of the accuracy-cost tradeoff and to present the technical realization of wearable athlete support systems. The findings of this thesis can be beneficial for research as well as industrial applications in the sport, health and medical domain.

Democracy and Climate Change explores the various ways in which democratic principles can lead governments to respond differently to climate change. The election cycle can lead to short-termism, which often appears to be at odds with the long-term nature of climate change, with its latency between cause and effect. However, it is clear that some democracies deal with climate change better than others, and this book demonstrates that overall stronger democratic qualities tend to correlate with improved climate performance. Beginning by outlining a general concept of democratic efficacy, the book provides an empirical analysis of the influence of the quality of democracy on climate change performance across dozens of countries. The specific case study of Canada’s Kyoto Protocol process is then used to explain the mechanisms of democratic influence in depth. The wide-ranging research presented in the book opens up several new and exciting avenues of enquiry and will be of considerable interest to researchers with an interest in comparative politics, democracy studies and environmental policies. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-ND) 4.0 license.

The human mind is capable of entertaining an astounding range of thoughts. These thoughts are composed of concepts or ideas, which are the building blocks of thoughts. This book is about where all of these concepts come from and the psychological structures that ultimately account for their acquisition. We argue that the debate over the origins of concepts, known as the rationalism-empiricism debate, has been widely misunderstood—not just by its critics but also by researchers who have been active participants in the debate. Part I fundamentally rethinks the foundations of the debate. Part II defends a rationalist view of the origins of concepts according to which many concepts across many conceptual domains are either innate or acquired via rationalist learning mechanisms. Our case is built around seven distinct arguments, which together form a large-scale inference to the best explanation argument for our account. Part III then defends this account against the most important empiricist objections and alternatives. Finally, Part IV argues against an extreme but highly influential rationalist view—Jerry Fodor’s infamous view that it is impossible to learn new concepts and his related radical concept nativism, which holds that essentially all lexical concepts are innate. Throughout the book, our discussion blends philosophical and theoretical reflection with consideration of a broad range of empirical work drawn from many different disciplines studying the mind, providing a thorough update to the rationalism-empiricism debate in philosophy and cognitive science and a major new rationalist account of the origins of concepts.

Gestational diabetes mellitus is defined as hyperglycemia with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. The incidence of gestational diabetes is still increasing and this pathological condition has strong association with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Since gestational diabetes can have long-term pathological consequences for both mother and the child, it is important that it is promptly recognized and adequately managed. Treatment of gestational diabetes is aimed to maintain euglycemia and it should involve regular glucose monitoring, dietary modifications, life style changes, appropriate physical activity, and when necessary, pharmacotherapy. Adequate glycemic control throughout the pregnancy can notably reduce the occurrence of specific adverse perinatal and maternal outcomes. In a long-term prospect, in order to prevent development of diabetes later in life, as well to avoid associated complications, an adequate education on lifestyle modifications should start in pregnancy and continue postpartum.

Josef Wünsch (1842 - 1907) undertook a three-year research activity in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire. In this volume his estate (cartographic and ethnographic works and collections) is brought together and evaluated from today's scientific point of view

L'histoire littéraire anglaise est riche de portraits d'enfants qui ont marqué durablement la sensibilité de générations de lecteurs : Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, la petite Maggie du Moulin sur la Floss et, plus près de nous, les représentations déviantes façonnées par Golding dans Sa Majesté des Mouches. Les différentes études rassemblées dans le présent volume dépeignent une réalité plus contemporaine et moins lyrique : celle d'enfants handicapés, maltraités, confrontés aux images de ...

Decolonization; Politics and government; Papua new guinea

Geografski terminološki slovar je temeljno znanstveno delo slovenske geografije. V njem je pomensko in terminološko natančno obdelano skoraj 9000 strokovnih izrazov s področij fizične, družbene in regionalne geografije ter geografiji najbližjih sorodnih ved. Z jasnimi definicijami geografskih pojmov in izrazov je nepogrešljiv pripomoček za učitelje in slušatelje geografije na vseh stopnjah izobraževanja, zaposlene v znanosti, prostorskem načrtovanju, državnih službah ter za različne druge strokovnjake, ki pri svojem delu uporabljajo geografsko strokovno izrazje ali potrebujejo natančne razlage geografskih pojavov, procesov in pokrajinskih sestavin. Zbrani in pomensko pojasnjeni so vsi bistveni strokovni in znanstveni geografski izrazi, pri čemer je v razlagah pogosto uporabljeno vzročno-posledično načelo, nepogrešljivo geografiji kot kompleksni vedi.

The field of material analysis has seen explosive growth during the past decades. Almost all the textbooks on materials analysis have a section devoted to the Fourier transform theory. For this reason, the book focuses on the material analysis based on Fourier transform theory. The book chapters are related to FTIR and the other methods used for analyzing different types of materials. It is hoped that this book will provide the background, reference and incentive to encourage further research and results in this area as well as provide tools for practical applications. It provides an applications-oriented approach to materials analysis written primarily for physicist, Chemists, Agriculturalists, Electrical Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Signal Processing Engineers, and the Academic Researchers and for the Graduate Students who will also find it useful as a reference for their research activities.

Abstract englisch (Max. 3 Sätze) The book analyzes the importance of Italian art and artists in Vienna from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Drawing from archival sources and unpublished materials, all the contributions of the book delve into several case studies that, in their complexity and diversity, clearly show the fundamental role of Italian art in Vienna and in the territories of the Habsburg domains. However, it was not only works of art that arrived from Italy, which were collected and esteemed by the aristocracy, clergy, and the court, but also artists who arrived in Vienna for periods of time, sometimes remaining there for their entire lives, and imprinting an epochal turning point in the local artistic production. Thus, it is not only a matter of material transfer but also of knowledge, know-how, and techniques spreading north of the Alps.

What might an interactive artwork look like that enabled greater expressive potential for all of the components of the event? How can we radically shift our idea of interactivity towards an ecological conception of the term, emphasising the generation of complex relation over the stability of objects and subjects? Gathering Ecologies explores this ethical and political shift in thinking, examining the creative potential of differential relations through key concepts from the philosophies of A.N. Whitehead, Gilbert Simondon and Michel Serres. Utilising detailed examinations of work by artists such as Lygia Clark, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Nathaniel Stern and Joyce Hinterding, the book discusses the creative potential of movement, perception and sensation, interfacing, sound and generative algorithmic design to tune an event towards the conditions of its own ecological emergence.

Acquis par la BnF grâce au mécénat en 2013, l’Agenda 1906 de Marcel Proust est un document unique, entièrement inédit. C’est d’abord un carnet de travail que l’écrivain a utilisé en 1909 puis en 1913 pour y noter des vérifications à faire en vue de son roman, mais aussi un surprenant carnet intime. Cette édition propose une reproduction en fac-similé, une transcription ainsi que des notes critiques renvoyant aux autres documents du fonds Proust, aujourd'hui intégralement numérisé : cahiers, carnets, feuilles volantes, dactylographies, placards et épreuves. Elle nous introduit ainsi dans l’atelier de l’écrivain et nous révèle sa manière de travailler.

The book provides chapters on sex hormones and their modulation in neurodegenerative processes and pathologies, from basic molecular mechanisms, physiology, gender differences, to neuroprotection and clinical aspects for potential novel pharmacotherapy approaches. The book contains 14 chapters written by authors from various biomedical professions, from basic researchers in biology and physiology to medicine and veterinary medicine, pharmacologists, psychiatrist, etc. Chapters sum up the past and current knowledge on sex hormones, representing original new insights into their role in brain functioning, mental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. The book is written for a broad range of audience, from biomedical students to highly profiled medical specialists and biomedical researchers, helping them to expand their knowledge on sex hormones in neurodegenerative processes and opening new questions for further investigation.

Der Umgang mit unseren Mitgeschöpfen stellt uns als Individuen sowie als Gesellschaft immer wieder vor elementare moralische Fragen: Welche Ernährungsform ist moralisch vertretbar? Wie viel Leid können wir ertragen, ignorieren oder verdrängen? Und was zählt das Leiden und Sterben nichtmenschlicher Tiere überhaupt? Für Antworten auf diese Fragen bietet sich die Literatur als Raum für Gedankenexperimente und Perspektivenwechsel an. Vera Zimmermann betrachtet die diskursiven und sprachkünstlerischen Möglichkeiten moderner und postmoderner Literatur anhand der Positionen von Elias Canetti, Marlen Haushofer und Brigitte Kronauer, um tierethische Positionen sowie deren Begründungen darzustellen.