This book demonstrates how delay differential equations (DDEs) can be used to compliment the laboratory investigation of human balancing tasks. This approach is made accessible to non-specialists by comparing mathematical predictions and experimental observations. For example, the observation that a longer pole is easier to balance on a fingertip than a shorter one demonstrates the essential role played by a time delay in the balance control mechanism. Another balancing task considered is postural sway during quiet standing. With the inverted pendulum as the driver and the feedback control depending on state variables or on an internal model, the feedback can be identified by determining a critical pendulum length and/or a critical delay. This approach is used to identify the nature of the feedback for the pole balancing and postural sway examples. Motivated by the question of how the nervous system deals with these feedback control challenges, there is a discussion of ‘’microchaotic’’ fluctuations in balance control and how robust control can be achieved in the face of uncertainties in the estimation of control parameters. The final chapter suggests some topics for future research. Each chapter includes an abstract and a point-by-point summary of the main concepts that have been established. A particularly useful numerical integration method for the DDEs that arise in balance control is semi-discretization. This method is described and a MATLAB template is provided. This book will be a useful source for anyone studying balance in humans, other bipedal organisms and humanoid robots. Much of the material has been used by the authors to teach senior undergraduates in computational neuroscience and students in bio-systems, biomedical, mechanical and neural engineering.

This volume is the most recent installment of the Progress in Motor Control series. It contains contributions based on presentations by invited speakers at the Progress in Motor Control VIII meeting held in Cincinnati, OH, USA in July, 2011. Progress in Motor Control is the official scientific meeting of the International Society of Motor Control (ISMC). The Progress in Motor Control VIII meeting, and consequently this volume, provide a broad perspective on the latest research on motor control in humans and other species.

This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact.

Critical Issues in Human Resource Management will enable all HR students to take a critical approach to HR issues. Outlining the influences and shapers of HR strategy including ethics, managing in different national contexts, employment relations, politics, governance and finance, this book provides students with a full understanding of the complexities of HRM strategy and what the implications of these are. There is also crucial discussion of critical issues in the processes and practice of HRM including the dilemmas of onshoring and offshoring, gender equality, challenging institutional racism and disability discrimination in the modern workplace to enable readers to think deeply and critically about these issues. Critical Issues in Human Resource Management also includes discussion of the application of HRM in different sectors such as manufacturing, the public sector, the private sector and not-for-profit organizations. This will enable HR students to examine HR practices in specific industries and to think about how issues might be dealt with differently in different sectors, rather than assuming that best practice is universal. Online resources include a lecturer guide with additional seminar activities and discussion topics, powerpoint slides and annotated weblinks for students to enable them to develop an astute, nuanced and critical approach to human resource management

This book addresses some issues related to depression. In particular, the edited chapters examine aspects related to culture and trauma as pathoplastic elements, innovative treatment aspects such as acupuncture or animal-assisted treatment, correlations between depression, and some somatic aspects. The volume is useful in renewing interest in a pathology that represents one of the most widespread mental illnesses that is also one of the least treated according to scientific evidence.

This book develops a framework that shows how uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (AI) expands and generalizes traditional AI. It explores the uncertainties of knowledge and intelligence. The authors focus on the importance of natural language – the carrier of knowledge and intelligence, and introduce efficient physical methods for data mining amd control. In this new edition, we have more in-depth description of the models and methods, of which the mathematical properties are proved strictly which make these theories and methods more complete. The authors also highlight their latest research results.

Risky Work Environments provides new insights into the multiple and dynamic trajectories of both near misses and mistakes in complex work environments, based on actual case examples. It also studies the interactions between various activity systems or work practices (design, maintenance, incident investigation, regulation, operation) and their consequences for operational performance. The role of rules and regulations is explored, considering the consequences of deviations and the limitations of enforced compliance. Further, the book explains how to search for, think about and act on information about vulnerability, near misses and mistakes in a way that emphasizes accountability in ways that are not punitive but instead responsible, innovative and provide opportunities for learning. Writing from different disciplines and theoretical perspectives, the contributors analyse working in risky environments which include air traffic control, offshore mining, chemical plants, neo-natal intensive care units, ship piloting and emergency call dispatch centres. In each chapter the authors present rich empirical data and their analyses illustrate a variety of ways in which, despite imperfect systems, safety and resilience is created in human action. In the chapters where the focus is on error or mistakes, the analysis undertaken reveals the logic of actions undertaken at the time as well as their constraints. The contributors are all active researchers within their disciplines and come from Australia, Finland, France, Norway and the Netherlands. The book will be of direct interest to safety scientists, researchers and scientists, as well as human factors practitioners working in complex technological systems.

Motivation: Theory, Neurobiology and Applications is inspired by a question central to health care professionals, teachers, parents, and coaches alike, "How can an individual be motivated to perform a given activity or training?" It presents novel measurements of motivation developed in psychology and economics, recent insights into the neurobiology of motivation, and current research on applications designed to boost motivation in neurorehabilitation, education, and sports. In addition, tactics on how to connect these different research and knowledge fields within a common (theoretical) framework of motivation is discussed. Thus, in short, the book provides an integrative, interdisciplinary, up-to-date accounting on the neurobiology of motivation and how it might be boosted. - Provides an integration of the neurosciences, their clinical challenges, and applicable research - Includes both an interdisciplinary and integrative nature - Contains a broad array of subject matter that will be of interest to a large target audience - Presents contributions from experts in their respective fields

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 12th IFIP TC 12 International Conference on Intelligent Information Processing, IIP 2022, held in Qingdao, China, in July 2022. The 37 full papers and 6 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 57 submissions. They are organized in topical sections on Machine Learning, Data Mining, Multiagent Systems, Social Computing, Blockchain Technology, Game Theory and Emotion, Pattern Recognition, Image Processing and Applications.