| The main problem addressed in this book came out during a Fulbright research fellowship stage at U.C. Berkeley (California, USA, 1996–1998). Then, I had the opportunity to work in the research group of Leon Chua on a subject called CNN (cellular neural/nonlinear network). The CNN, developed in the end of the 1980s was an important step ahead in getting cellular computing closer to practical applications. The CNN is actually a cellular array made of many identical elements interconnected in a neighborhood. But unlike the cellular automata (CA) the CNN was designed as a circuit-oriented architecture being developed up to the point where it serves as a low-power smart sensor or visual microprocessor capable to acquire and process images or multi-dimensional signals in general with processing speeds of the order of 1012 (Tera) operations per second. Today, there are several academic and industrial groups providing CNN-based solutions for various practical problems, particularly when high speed processing at low power is needed. Also, researchers in the area of nano-technology recognize cellular computing as a suitable computing paradigm to the specific of these technologies where many identical active elements are available on a mass proportion. Researchers in biology also recognize the cellular paradigm as a well-suited paradigm for models of natural systems. Indeed there is a similarity, as biological systems essentially are functionally meaningful aggregates of mostly local interconnected cells. A brief review of the cellular computing paradigm, its relation to natural computing in general and the state of the art of its use in applications are given in Chaps. 1 and 2 of this book. |
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Effects of Space Weather on Technology InfrastructureThe highly variable conditions in the Earth-related space environment, including the Sun, the interplanetary medium and the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere-atmosphere system, are collectively known as space weather. In the recent past we have experienced that space weather influences the performance and reliability of space- and ground-based... | | Homocysteine: Related Vitamins and Neuropsychiatric Disorders
During the last 15 years the research on homocysteine and the vitamins involved in its metabolism has become very dynamic. About 1,500 publications on the subject are now published each year. The research has long mainly focused on the association between homocysteine and cardiovascular disease, but also pregnancy complications/ fetal... | | Attitudes and OpinionsNotable advances resulting from new research findings, measurement approaches, widespread uses of the Internet, and increasingly sophisticated approaches to sampling and polling, have stimulated a new generation of attitude scholars. This extensively revised edition captures this excitement, while remaining grounded in scholarly research. ... |
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