About the book
Since the introduction of the first sub-picosecond lasers in the 1990s, the interest in femtosecond optics has grown rapidly. A femtosecond pulse is an electromagnetic pulse with a time duration of one femtosecond (10-15 seconds) or less. Understanding the behavior of the ultrashort light pulses makes it possible to develop ultra-fast lasers with a wide range of applications in such areas as micro-machining, chemical analysis, material processing, spectroscopy, and medical imaging.
This book will be a compilation of works presenting recent advances and progress in femtosecond optics. It aims to focus on developing femtosecond laser systems, the study of the interaction of femtosecond light pulses with the matter, application of ultrafast nonlinear optics, and manipulation of ultrashort pulses to fill the need for a thorough and detailed account of femtosecond optics. We hope this book will be useful for engineers and managers, for professors and students, and for those who are interested in laser science and technologies. The rise of robotic technology continues in the new century, taking firm steps towards becoming a part of humanity day by day. Robots have become a part of both industrial production and human life, increasingly taking their place in factories, hospitals, schools, the military system, streets, and homes. As a result of this rapid involvement of robotic structures in modern life, scientists are accelerating both theoretical and applied studies on robotic manipulators. This book focuses on the latest developments in kinematics, dynamics, control, simulation tools, optimization, and structural design of serial, parallel, and hybrid robot manipulators. I would like to thank all the authors who will contribute to the book with their novel ideas in advance. During the last years, there was intense research on Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) and related disorders, which were found to have a strong association with the HLA-B27 allele. Further studies showed that 92% of the population variance is due to genetic factors, and only a fraction of AS genetics can be explained by the influence of HLA-B27. Updated information on the genomic and auto-immune knowledge on AS is an important component of this book, calling attention to markers of disease activity, possible pathways, and the interaction with the gut microbiome, which are a step forward in the knowledge of the pathophysiology of AS, providing markers which are targets for the more recent biologic therapies.
An update on clinical manifestations, their assessment, monitoring, and imagiology, including peripheral arthritis, enthesopathy, and extra-articular findings, and, the differential diagnosis with other diseases which evolves with axial and peripheral calcifications will be provided.
An important component of this book must be dedicated to the more recent treatments namely with biologic therapies but focusing also on new small molecule inhibitors and experimental therapies.
