History of Computer Science
The history of Computer Science is a picture of dramatic changes. European Scientists discovered many basic methods needed for computing. American companies saw the commercial potential. Asian factories produce first class products like mobile devices. Chinese supercomputing is one of the leaders in the race to exascale computing power. Freedom of information, Open Data and Open Government are impossible without open Internet and net neutrality. Privacy and security issues become important human rights while all of our avatars collect myriads of data and know more about us than we know ourselves. Cloud Computing is the key for commercial organization of computing in the future. Everyone needs orientation in this fast changing world. A look into the history of computer science provides help to understand ICT technology of today.
After the Anthropocene
This book discusses the geological time that will follow the human-dominated epoch and ways to move there. In addition to an editorial, a total of five articles are published in this volume. The articles engage with a variety of social science disciplines-ranging from economics and sociology to philosophy and political science-and connect to natural science's insights into the Anthropocene. The volume calls for going beyond anthropocentrism in sustainability theory and practice in order to exit the Anthropocene with applications and insights in the contexts of politics, energy, tourism, food and management. We hope that you will find this book interesting and helpful in contributing to sustainable change.
Optimal Control of Hybrid Systems and Renewable Energies
This book is a collection of papers covering various aspects of the optimal control of power and energy production from renewable resources (wind, PV, biomass, hydrogen, etc.). In particular, attention is focused both on the optimal control of new technologies and on their integration in buildings, microgrids, and energy markets. The examples presented in this book are among the most promising technologies for satisfying an increasing share of thermal and electrical demands with renewable sources: from solar cooling plants to offshore wind generation; hybrid plants, combining traditional and renewable sources, are also considered, as well as traditional and innovative storage systems. Innovative solutions for transportation systems are also explored for both railway infrastructures and advanced light rail vehicles. The optimization and control of new solutions for the power network are addressed in detail: specifically, special attention is paid to microgrids as new paradigms for distribution networks, but also in other applications (e.g., shipboards). Finally, optimization and simulation models within SCADA and energy management systems are considered. This book is intended for engineers, researchers, and practitioners that work in the field of energy, smart grid, renewable resources, and their optimization and control.
Optimization of Motion Planning and Control for Automatic Machines, Robots and Multibody Systems
The optimization of motion and trajectory planning is an effective and usually costless approach to improving the performance of robots, mechatronic systems, automatic machines and multibody systems. Indeed, wise planning increases precision and machine productivity, while reducing vibrations, motion time, actuation effort and energy consumption. On the other hand, the availability of optimized methods for motion planning allows for a cheaper and lighter system construction. The issue of motion planning is also tightly linked with the synthesis of high-performance feedback and feedforward control schemes, which can either enhance the effectiveness of motion planning or compensate for its gaps. To collect and disseminate a meaningful collection of these applications, this book proposes 15 novel research studies that cover different sub-areas, in the framework of motion planning and control.
Spatial Big Data, BIM and advanced GIS for Smart Transformation
This book covers a range of topics including selective technologies and algorithms that can potentially contribute to developing an intelligent environment and smarter cities. While the connectivity and efficiency of smart cities is important, the analysis of the impact of construction development and large projects in the city is crucial to decision and policy makers, before the project is approved. This book also presents an agenda for future investigations to address the need for advanced tools such as mobile scanners, Geospatial Artificial Intelligence, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Geospatial Augmented Reality apps, Light Detection, and Ranging in smart cities. Some of selected specific tools presented in this book are as a simulator for improving the smart parking practices by modelling drivers with activity plans, a bike optimization algorithm to increase the efficiency of bike stations, an agent-based model simulation of human mobility with the use of mobile phone datasets. In addition, this book describes the use of numerical methods to match the network demand and supply of bicycles, investigate the distribution of railways using different indicators, presents a novel algorithm of direction-aware continuous moving K-nearest neighbor queries in road networks, and presents an efficient staged evacuation planning algorithm for multi-exit buildings.
Gasoline desulfurization for Tier 3 Compliance
Starting in January 2020, gasoline sold in the United States must contain no more than 10 ppm sulfur. This short, easy-to-read book gives a high-level overview of the regulatory, technical, economic, and strategic implications of this "Tier 3" requirement. Readers will get a quick, thorough understanding of the Tier 3 issue which, according to the author, will have much more impact on the gasoline market than has been anticipated.
Finite Element Methods in Smart Materials and Polymers
Functional polymers show unique physical and chemical properties, which can manifest as dynamic responses to external stimuli such as radiation, temperature, chemical reaction, external force, and magnetic and electric fields. Recent advances in the fabrication techniques have enabled different types of polymer systems to be utilized in a wide range of potential applications in smart structures and systems, including structural health monitoring, anti‐vibration, and actuators. The progress in these integrated smart structures requires the implementation of finite element modelling using a multiphysics approach in various computational platforms. This book presents finite element methods applied in modeling of the smart structures and materials with particular emphasis on hydrogels, metamaterials, 3D-printed and anti-vibration constructs, and fibers.
Verhaltens繹konomische Ans瓣tze in der Bewegungsf繹rderung
Essay aus dem Jahr 2020 im Fachbereich Biologie - Krankheiten, Gesundheit, Ern瓣hrung, Note: 2,0, Wirtschaftsuniversit瓣t Wien (Department f羹r Sozio繹konomie), Veranstaltung: Angewandte ?konomie, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Diese Arbeit versucht, die Ursachen des weltweiten Bewegungsmangels darzustellen, die verhaltens繹konomischen Ans瓣tze von Framing, Habit Formation und Anchor Points zu skizzieren und anhand konkreter Beispiele aus der Praxis darzulegen, wie diese Ans瓣tze in Policies zur Bewegungsf繹rderung Anwendung finden. Dass ausreichend k繹rperliche Ert羹chtigung nicht nur f羹r das pers繹nliche Wohlbefinden bedeutend, sondern auch ein wesentlicher Faktor f羹r das gesundheitliche Wohlergehen ist, ist weitgehend unbestritten: Wie sp瓣ter noch detaillierter ausgef羹hrt wird, bewegen sich Millionen Menschen trotzdem nicht genug und leiden nicht selten unter daraus resultierenden Krankheiten wie ?bergewicht oder Krebs.
Ellen E. Goes Fishing
Jumpin' Jehosophat! Heavens to Murgatroyd! Who is this girl who uses a pocket notebook to capture new lessons from her best friends Sally Science and Maria Math? Her name is Ellen E, and the "E" is short for Engineering! Whether it's learning how to multiply by tens, speaking Spanish, or understanding the properties of water while on a fishing trip, Ellen E is sure to make each experience a fun one!
Progress Unchained
Progress Unchained reinterprets the history of the idea of progress using parallels between evolutionary biology and changing views of human history. Early concepts of progress in both areas saw it as the ascent of a linear scale of development toward a final goal. The 'chain of being' defined a hierarchy of living things with humans at the head, while social thinkers interpreted history as a development toward a final paradise or utopia. Darwinism reconfigured biological progress as a 'tree of life' with multiple lines of advance not necessarily leading to humans, each driven by the rare innovations that generate entirely new functions. Popular writers such as H. G. Wells used a similar model to depict human progress, with competing technological innovations producing ever-more rapid changes in society. Bowler shows that as the idea of progress has become open-ended and unpredictable, a variety of alternative futures have been imagined.
Performance Modeling and Flow Rate Optimization of Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries
Master's Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject Engineering - Power Engineering, grade: 9.0, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, language: English, abstract: There is a drastic capacity increase in the ocean, solar, and wind power based energy generation in recent years. Moreover, a larger increase is predicted in future years. Hence, we need a reliable, efficient, and cost-effective energy storage system to match up with the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources. Vanadium redox flow batteries are a promising option and are fast approaching commercialization owing to their unique characteristics like including independent scaling of power and energy density. However, there are various losses associated with the membrane, electrodes, and also due to mass transfer which limit its performance and further decrease battery capacity and efficiency. The first part of this study focusses on membrane thickness, mass transfer coefficients, electrode morphology, and current density to analyze the performance of the battery. The latter part describes the effect of flow rate on concentration overpotential, pressure losses, and pumping power to come up with an optimal variable flow rate strategy to maximize the battery capacity and system efficiency.
Advanced Intelligent Control through Versatile Intelligent Portable Platforms
Advanced intelligent (ADI) control through Versatile Intelligent Portable (VIP) Platforms is a rapidly developing, complex, challenging field with great practical importance and potential. ADI control is an interdisciplinary field which combines and extends theories and methods from control theory, computer science, and operations research areas with the aim of developing controllers that are highly adaptable to significant unanticipated changes. Deep research and communicating new trends in the design, control, and applications of the real time control of intelligent sensors systems using advanced intelligent control methods and techniques is the main purpose of this book. Innovative multi-sensor fusion techniques, integrated through VIP platforms, are developed and combined with computer vision, virtual and augmented reality (VR&AR), and intelligent communication, including remote control, adaptive sensor networks, human-robot (H2R) interaction systems, and machine-to-machine (M2M) interfaces. Intelligent decision support systems (IDSS), including remote sensing, and their integration with DSS, GA-based DSS, fuzzy sets DSS, rough set-based DSS, intelligent agent-assisted DSS, process mining integration into decision support, adaptive DSS, computer vision-based DSS, and sensory and robotic DSS are highlighted in the field of advanced intelligent control. Approaching new technologies using advanced intelligent control through versatile intelligent portable platforms involves complex multidisciplinary research covering enhanced IoT technologies and applications in the 5G densification era, bio-inspired techniques in future manufacturing enterprise control, cyberphysical systems approach to cognitive enterprise, developing the IT Industry 4.0 concept, industrial systems in the digital age, cloud computing, robotics, and automation with applications such as human aid mechatronics moving in unstructured and uneven environments, rescue robots, firefighting robots, rehabilitation robots, robot-assisted surgery, and domestic robots.
Market Design for a High-Renewables Electricity System
The book provides assessments and evaluations of emerging trends in the electricity markets, with a focus on high-renewables electricity systems. Specifically, various issues are examined, such as wind and solar energy, interconnection, smart meters, smart grids of the future (including their social implications), and peer-to-peer (P2P) electricity trading, which is closely connected to the principle of a sharing economy. The book also contemplates how the market design for a high-renewables electricity system would be different from the classical post-liberalization market design.
Symmetry in Applied Continuous Mechanics
Engineering practice requires the use of structures containing identical components or parts, useful from several points of view: less information is needed to describe the system, design is made quicker and easier, components are made faster than a complex assembly, and finally the time to achieve the structure and the cost of manufacturing decreases. Additionally, the subsequent maintenance of the system becomes easier and cheaper. This Special Issue is dedicated to this kind of mechanical structure, describing the properties and methods of analysis of these structures. Discrete or continuous structures in static and dynamic cases are considered. Theoretical models, mathematical methods, and numerical analyses of the systems, such as the finite element method and experimental methods, are expected to be used in the research. Machine building, automotive, aerospace, and civil engineering are the main areas in which such applications appear, but they are found in most engineering fields.
Assessment and Nonlinear Modeling of Wave, Tidal and Wind Energy Converters and Turbines
The Special Issue "Assessment and Nonlinear Modeling of Wave, Tidal, and Wind Energy Converters and Turbines" contributes original research to stimulate the continuing progress of the offshore renewable energy (ORE) field, with a focus on state-of-the-art numerical approaches developed for the design and analysis of ORE devices. Particularly, this collection provides new methodologies, analytical/numerical tools, and theoretical methods that deal with engineering problems in the ORE field of wave, wind, and current structures. This Special Issue covers a wide range of multidisciplinary aspects, such as the 1) study of generalized interaction wake model systems with elm variation for offshore wind farms; 2) a flower pollination method based on global maximum power point tracking strategy for point-absorbing type wave energy converters; 3) performance optimization of a Kirsten-Boeing turbine using a metamodel based on neural networks coupled with CFD; 4) proposal of a novel semi-submersible floating wind turbine platform composed of inclined columns and multi-segmented mooring lines; 5) reduction of tower fatigue through blade back twist and active pitch-to-stall control strategy for a semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbine; 6) assessment of primary energy conversion of a closed-circuit OWC wave energy converter; 7) development and validation of a wave-to-wire model for two types of OWC wave energy converters; 8) assessment of a hydrokinetic energy converter based on vortex-induced angular oscillations of a cylinder; 9) application of wave-turbulence decomposition methods on a tidal energy site assessment; 10) parametric study for an oscillating water column wave energy conversion system installed on a breakwater; 11) optimal dimensions of a semisubmersible floating platform for a 10 MW wind turbine; 12) fatigue life assessment for power cables floating in offshore wind turbines.
New Leadership in Strategy and Communication
This contributed volume provides new approaches, fresh ideas, valuable insights, and latest research in leadership--from strategic business (model) innovation to system design and humanity--and is a knowledge source and inspirational guide for scientists and practitioners alike.A key theme is the provision of an integrated perspective on leadership in strategy and communication which allow (senior) leaders, managing di-rectors, project managers, and individuals to (1) better link strategic busi-ness innovation and leadership and (2) shift to the new human self-lead-ership paradigm and in particularly leadership advances that consider ideas from multiple disciplines and transgenerational views. That includes a new understanding about knowledge, learning and change and how leaders re-discover and develop their human abilities, which include intui-tion/strength, balance and clarity, projection-reflection, and wisdom.This volume also makes an important contributionto the evolving aca-demic domain by providing the latest insights on trauma research, DNA healing, system (re)design, and growth & abundance mindset in the ad-vanced co-creation age.
Modeling of Soil Erosion and Sediment Transport
The Special Issue entitled "Modeling of Soil Erosion and Sediment Transport" focuses on the mathematical modeling of soil erosion caused by rainfall and runoff at a basin scale, as well as on the sediment transport in the streams of the basin. In concrete terms, the quantification of these phenomena by means of mathematical modeling and field measurements has been studied. The following mathematical models (software) were used, amongst others: AnnAGNPS, SWAT, SWAT-Twn, TUSLE, WRF-Hydro-Sed, CORINE, LCM-MUSLE, EROSION-3D, HEC-RAS, SRC, WA-ANN. The Special Issue contains 14 articles that can be classified into the following five categories: Category A: "Soil erosion and sediment transport modeling in basins"; Category B: "Inclusion of soil erosion control measures in soil erosion models"; Category C: "Soil erosion and sediment transport modeling in view of reservoir sedimentation"; Category D: "Field measurements of gully erosion"; Category E: "Stream sediment transport modeling". Most studies presented in the Special Issue were applied to different basins in Europe, America, and Asia, and are the result of the cooperation between universities and/or research centers in different countries and continents, which constitutes an optimistic fact for the international scientific communication.
Building safety, efficiency and cost savings
The idea of this book directly followed the realization of how scarce the information is on the scientific research carried out all over the world on ICFs (Insulating Concrete Forms). These studies were conducted through testing and experimentation and offer scientific evidence on the economic, safety and energetic benefits of the ICF construction system. Therefore, the author of the present book collected, analyzed and catalogued by typology fifty pieces of research that are now available for rapide use and easy consultation. The collective reading of these works shows that ICFs make a construction system with a relevant and internationally consolidated scientific background concerning both the usual performativity and exceptional aspects like explosions and tornadoes. Each summary is followed by a few explicatory lines listing the topic and the references to the author. The volume also presents an introductory part in which the main specifications of the ICF system are described, and a section devoted to the pictures of buildings under construction to better illustrate this construction technology.
Engineering Metamaterials
A couple of decades have passed since the advent of electromagnetic metamaterials. Although the research on artificial microwave materials dates back to the middle of the 20th century, the most prominent development in the electromagnetics of artificial media has happened in the new millennium. In the last decade, the electromagnetics of one-, two-, and three-dimensional metamaterials acquired robust characterization and design tools. Novel fabrication techniques have been developed. Many exotic effects involving metamaterials and metasurfaces, which initially belonged in a scientist's lab, are now well understood by practicing engineers. Therefore, it is the right time for the metamaterial concepts to become a designer's tools of choice in the landscape of electronics, microwaves, and photonics. Answering such a demand, the book "Engineering Metamaterials" focuses on the theory and applications of electromagnetic metamaterials, metasurfaces, and metamaterial transmission lines as the building blocks of present-day and future electronic, photonic, and microwave devices.
Signal Analysis in Power Systems
The analysis of power systems under various conditions represents one of the most important and complex tasks in electrical power engineering. Studies in this area are necessary to ensure that the reliability, efficiency, and stability of the power system is not adversely affected. This issue is devoted to reviews and applications of modern methods of signal processing used to analyze the operation of a power system and evaluate the performance of the system in all aspects. Smart grids as an emerging research field of the current decade is the focus of this issue. Monitoring capability with data integration, advanced analysis of support system control, enhanced power security and effective communication to meet the power demand, efficient energy consumption and minimum costs, and intelligent interaction between power-generating and -consuming devices depends on the selection and implementation of advanced signal analysis and processing techniques.
Advanced Thin Film Materials for Photovoltaic Applications
The direct conversion of sunlight into electricity (photovoltaic or PV for short) is evolving rapidly, and is a technology becoming a mainstream clean energy production method. However, to compete with conventional energy production methods using fossil fuels, the conversion efficiency needs to be increased, and the manufacturing cost should be reduced further. Both of these require the improvement of solar energy materials, and the device architectures used for the conversion of light into electrical energy. This Special Issue presents the latest developments in some solar energy materials like Si, CdTe, CIGS, SnS and Perovskites), and the device structures suitable for next generation solar cells. In particular, the progress in graded bandgap multi-layer solar cells are presented in this Special Issue.
Grid-Connected PV Plants
PV power plant integration into the grid has been a relevant topic of interest over the last years. Policies supported by governments, technology maturity, favorable incentives, and cost decreasing have significantly promoted the integration of PV power plants into power systems at the transmission and distribution levels. Nevertheless, some barriers remain in terms of forecasting generation, grid reliability, and power quality, which must be overcome for the massive PV integration into future power systems. Additionally, the ancillary services provided by these generation units are increasingly required by different agents to facilitate grid operation under a high proportion of renewables. Topics of interest for this Special Issue include the following areas: large-scale PV power plants, energy policies related to PV power plants, grid integration and interaction, PV power plant modeling, monitoring and case studies, communication systems for PV power plants integration, economic analyses, PV inverters and sizing analyses, new trends in PV technologies, and reviews.
Analysis and Design of Structures Made of Plastically Anisotropic Materials
Plastic anisotropy is a common property of many metallic materials. This property affects the analysis and design of structures and metal forming processes. The present edited collection of papers concerns analytic and numerical methods of structural and metal forming analysis and design using material models for anisotropic materials. Some qualitative features of rigid plastic solutions in anisotropic plasticity are investigated. Both rate-independent and rate-dependent constitutive equations are considered. The effect of plastic anisotropy on the distribution of residual stresses and strains is shown. Some papers deal with thermo-mechanical problems.
Nanostructured Light-Emitters
Significant progress has been made in nanophotonics and the use of nanostructured materials for optoelectronic devices, including light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes, which have recently attracted considerable attention due to their unique geometry. Nanostructures in small dimensions, comprising nanowires, nanotubes, and nanoparticles, etc, . can be perfectly integrated into a variety of technological platforms, offering novel physical and chemical properties for high-performance, light-emitting devices. This Special Issue aims to present the most recent advances in the field of nanophotonics, which focuses on LEDs and laser diodes. We invite contributions of original research articles, as well as review articles that are aligned to the following topics that include, but are not limited to, thetheoretical calculation, synthesis, characterization, and application of such novel nanostructures for light-emitting devices. The application of nanostructured light-emitters in general lighting, imaging, and displays is also highly encouraged.
Special Issue of the Manufacturing Engineering Society (MES)
This book derives from the Special Issue of the Manufacturing Engineering Society (MES) that was launched as a Special Issue of the journal Materials. The 48 contributions, published in this book, explore the evolution of traditional manufacturing models toward the new requirements of the Manufacturing Industry 4.0 and present cutting-edge advances in the field of Manufacturing Engineering focusing on additive manufacturing and 3D printing, advances and innovations in manufacturing processes, sustainable and green manufacturing, manufacturing systems (machines, equipment and tooling), metrology and quality in manufacturing, Industry 4.0, product lifecycle management (PLM) technologies, and production planning and risks.
Special Issue of the Manufacturing Engineering Society (MES)
This book derives from the Special Issue of the Manufacturing Engineering Society (MES) that was launched as a Special Issue of the journal Materials. The 48 contributions, published in this book, explore the evolution of traditional manufacturing models toward the new requirements of the Manufacturing Industry 4.0 and present cutting-edge advances in the field of Manufacturing Engineering focusing on additive manufacturing and 3D printing, advances and innovations in manufacturing processes, sustainable and green manufacturing, manufacturing systems (machines, equipment and tooling), metrology and quality in manufacturing, Industry 4.0, product lifecycle management (PLM) technologies, and production planning and risks.
Gestaltung Vernetzt-Flexibler Arbeit
Dieses Open-Access-Buch umfasst f羹nfzehn Beitr瓣ge aus sechs Verbundvorhaben, die im Rahmen des F繹rderschwerpunkts "Arbeit in der digitalisierten Welt" des Bundesministeriums f羹r Bildung und Forschung unterschiedliche Entwicklungen im Transformationsprozess der Arbeitswelt analysieren, konkrete L繹sungsans瓣tze entwickeln und wissenschaftlich begleiten und evaluieren. Die Autoren der Beitr瓣ge geben Einblicke in ihre Erkenntnisse und die entwickelten Konzepte. Daraus lassen sich f羹r Akteure aus Politik und Wirtschaft entsprechende Handlungsempfehlungen ableiten und es ergeben sich neue Forschungsimpulse f羹r Akteure aus der Wissenschaft.
Recommendation Engines
How companies like Amazon and Netflix know what "you might also like" the history, technology, business, and social impact of online recommendation engines.Increasingly, our technologies are giving us better, faster, smarter, and more personal advice than our own families and best friends. Amazon already knows what kind of books and household goods you like and is more than eager to recommend more; YouTube and TikTok always have another video lined up to show you; Netflix has crunched the numbers of your viewing habits to suggest whole genres that you would enjoy. In this volume in the MIT Press's Essential Knowledge series, innovation expert Michael Schrage explains the origins, technologies, business applications, and increasing societal impact of recommendation engines, the systems that allow companies worldwide to know what products, services, and experiences "you might also like."Schrage offers a history of recommendation that reaches back to antiquity's oracles and astrologers; recounts the academic origins and commercial evolution of recommendation engines; explains how these systems work, discussing key mathematical insights, including the impact of machine learning and deep learning algorithms; and highlights user experience design challenges. He offers brief but incisive case studies of the digital music service Spotify; ByteDance, the owner of TikTok; and the online personal stylist Stitch Fix. Finally, Schrage considers the future of technological recommenders: Will they leave us disappointed and dependent--or will they help us discover the world and ourselves in novel and serendipitous ways?
The Write Rules
IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY OR LATE TO FULFILL YOUR DESTINY. My writing handbook, for Engineering, Technical, and English as Second Language professionals, will enhance your written and verbal communications skill set. After reading this book and using the examples, you will be able to attract and retain clients. The concise but effective guidelines in the handbook will ensure your business grows to its full potential. However, you will have to work hard to achieve your goals. Success, unlike oatmeal, isn't instant! "This book gives clear writing guidelines-keep it concise and simple." -- Kelly, PE "Joan has compiled a fine communications guide. If you're looking for a concise reference to help you with your verbal and written communication skills, The Write Rules is for you." -- Steven, French teacher
Project Action Learning (Pal) Guidebook: Practical Learning in Organizations
This book presents the fundamental concepts of organizational learning (OL) and related topics. In addition, it discusses various factors that influence the success of, and readiness to adopt, OL. In the modern competitive market, companies are looking for ways to excel by focusing more on innovation and knowledge discovery. In response, the book presents a ready-to-use tool for driving OL, called Project Action Learning (PAL). The PAL framework helps teams effectively work on, and learn from, meaningful projects. In this regard, equal emphasis is placed on achieving the project outcome and the participants' learning objectives. Moreover, the book offers a step-by-step guidebook on how PAL-driven OL can be achieved, making it a valuable asset for educators and practitioners alike.
Vehicular Sensor Networks
The recent years have witnessed tremendous growth in connected vehicles due to major interest in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET) technology from both the research and industrial communities. VANET involves the generation of data from onboard sensors and its dissemination in other vehicles via vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, thus resulting in numerous applications such as steep-curve warnings. However, to increase the scope of applications, VANET has to integrate various technologies including sensor networks, which results in a new paradigm commonly referred to as vehicular sensor networks (VSN). Unlike traditional sensor networks, every node (vehicle) in VSN is equipped with various sensing (distance sensors, GPS, and cameras), storage, and communication capabilities, which can provide a wide range of applications including environmental surveillance and traffic monitoring. VSN has the potential to improve transportation technology and the transportation environment due to its unlimited power supply and resulting minimum energy constraints. However, VSN faces numerous challenges in terms of its design, implementation, network scalability, reliability, and deployment over large-scale networks, which need to be addressed before it is realized. This book comprises 12 outstanding research works related to vehicular sensor networks, addressing various aspects such as security, routing, SDN, and NDN.
Symmetry in Complex Systems
Complex systems with symmetry arise in many fields, at various length scales, including financial markets, social, transportation, telecommunication and power grid networks, world and country economies, ecosystems, molecular dynamics, immunology, living organisms, computational systems, and celestial and continuum mechanics. The emergence of new orders and structures in complex systems means symmetry breaking and transitions from unstable to stable states. Modeling complexity has attracted many researchers from different areas, dealing both with theoretical concepts and practical applications. This Special Issue fills the gap between the theory of symmetry-based dynamics and its application to model and analyze complex systems.
Silicon Photonics Bloom
The open access journal Micromachines invites manuscript submissions for the Special Issue "Silicon Photonics Bloom". The past two decades have witnessed a tremendous growth of silicon photonics. Lab-scale research on simple passive component designs is now being expanded by on-chip hybrid systems architectures. With the recent injection of government and private funding, we are living the 1980s of the electronic industry, when the first merchant foundries were established. Soon, we will see more and more merchant foundries proposing well-established electronic design tools, product development kits, and mature component libraries. The open access journal Micromachines invites the submission of manuscripts in the developing area of silicon photonics. The goal of this Special Issue is to highlight the recent developments in this cutting-edge technology.]
Industry 4.0 for SMEs - Smart Manufacturing and Logistics for SMEs
In recent years, the industrial environment has been changing radically due to the introduction of concepts and technologies based on the fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. After the introduction of Industry 4.0 in large enterprises, SMEs have moved into the focus, as they are the backbone of many economies. Small organizations are increasingly proactive in improving their operational processes, which is a good starting point for introducing the new concepts of Industry 4.0. The readiness of SME-adapted Industry 4.0 concepts and the organizational capability of SMEs to meet this challenge exist only in some areas. This reveals the need for further research and action plans for preparing SMEs in a technical and organizational direction. Therefore, special research and investigations are needed for the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies and concepts in SMEs. SMEs will only achieve Industry 4.0 by following SME-customized implementation strategies and approaches and realizing SME-adapted concepts and technological solutions. Thus, this Special Issue represents a collection of theoretical models as well as practical case studies related to the introduction of Industry 4.0 concepts in small- and medium-sized enterprises.
Applications of Electromagnetic Waves
Electromagnetic (EM) waves carry energy through propagation in space. This radiation associates with entangled electric and magnetic fields which must exist simultaneously. Although all EM waves travel at the speed of light in vacuum, they cover a wide range of frequencies called the EM spectrum. The various portions of the EM spectrum are referred to by various names based on their different attributes in the emission, transmission, and absorption of the corresponding waves and also based on their different practical applications. There are no certain boundaries separating these various portions, and the ranges tend to overlap. Overall, the EM spectrum, from the lowest to the highest frequency (longest to shortest wavelength) contains the following waves: radio frequency (RF), microwaves, millimeter waves, terahertz, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays. This Special Issue consists of sixteen papers covering a broad range of topics related to the applications of EM waves, from the design of filters and antennas for wireless communications to biomedical imaging and sensing and beyond.
Advanced Approaches, Business Models, and Novel Techniques for Management and Control of Smart Grids
The current power system should be renovated to fulfill social and industrial requests and economic advances. Hence, providing economic, green, and sustainable energy are key goals of advanced societies. In order to meet these goals, recent features of smart grid technologies need to have the potential to improve reliability, flexibility, efficiency, and resiliency. This book aims to address the mentioned challenges by introducing advanced approaches, business models, and novel techniques for the management and control of future smart grids.
Advances in Theoretical and Computational Energy Optimization Processes Volume 2
The paradigm in the design of all human activity that requires energy for its development must change from the past. We must change the processes of product manufacturing and functional services. This is necessary in order to mitigate the ecological footprint of man on the Earth, which cannot be considered as a resource with infinite capacities. To do this, every single process must be analyzed and modified, with the aim of decarbonising each production sector. This collection of articles has been assembled to provide ideas and new broad-spectrum contributions for these purposes.
Advances in Theoretical and Computational Energy Optimization Processes
The paradigm in the design of all human activity that requires energy for its development must change from the past. We must change the processes of product manufacturing and functional services. This is necessary in order to mitigate the ecological footprint of man on the Earth, which cannot be considered as a resource with infinite capacities. To do this, every single process must be analyzed and modified, with the aim of decarbonising each production sector. This collection of articles has been assembled to provide ideas and new broad-spectrum contributions for these purposes.
Selected Papers from the 5th International Electronic Conference on Sensors and Applications
This Special Issue comprises selected papers from the proceedings of the 5th International Electronic Conference on Sensors and Applications, held on 15-30 November 2018, on sciforum.net, an online platform for hosting scholarly e-conferences and discussion groups. In this 5th edition of the electronic conference, contributors were invited to provide papers and presentations from the field of sensors and applications at large, resulting in a wide variety of excellent submissions and topic areas. Papers which attracted the most interest on the web or that provided a particularly innovative contribution were selected for publication in this collection. These peer-reviewed papers are published with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications. We hope this conference series will grow rapidly in the future and become recognized as a new way and venue by which to (electronically) present new developments related to the field of sensors and their applications.
Catalysis for the Production of Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals
Catalysis, in the industrial production of chemicals, fuels, and materials, accounts for more than half of gross material production worldwide. Heterogeneous catalysis enables fast and selective chemical transformations, resulting in superior product yield and facilitating catalyst separation and recovery. The synthesis of novel catalysts has emerged as a hot topic for process and product development with numerous research publications and patents. Hence, development of efficient catalysts and their applications is important for sustainable energy production and use, green chemicals production and use, and economic growth. This Special Issue discusses recent developments related to catalysis for the production of sustainable fuels and chemicals and traverses many new frontiers of catalysis including synthesis, characterization, catalytic performances, reaction kinetics and modelling, as well as applications of catalysts for the production of biofuels, synthesis gas, and other green products. This covers the current state-of-the-art catalysis research applied to bioenergy, organic transformation, carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatoms, reforming, hydrogenation, hydrodesulfurization, hydrodenitrogenation, hydrodemetalization, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, to name a few. This book highlights new avenues in catalysis including catalyst preparation methods, analytical tools for catalyst characterization, and techno-economic assessment to enhance a chemical or biological transformation process using catalysts for a betterment of industry, academia and society.
Entropy and Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics
Nonequilibrium statistical mechanics has a long history featuring diverse aspects. It has been a major research field in physics and will remain so in the future. Even regarding the concept of entropy, there exists a longstanding problem concerning its definition for a system in a state far from equilibrium. In this Special Issue, we offered the possibility to discuss and present up-to-date problems that were not necessarily restricted to statistical mechanics. Theoretical and experimental papers are both presented, in addition to unifying research works. As the entropy itself is the central element of nonequilibrium processes, papers discuss various formulations of the second law and its consequences. In this Special Issue, recent progress in kinetic approaches to hydrodynamics, rational extended thermodynamics, entropy in a strongly nonequilibrium stationary state, and related topics are reported as both review articles as well as original research works.
Energy Saving at Cities
Climate change is increasing due to the anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases. The majority of these are due to the production and consumption of energy. According to the latest estimates, global energy demand could triple by 2050, and by then, 70% of the world's population will live in cities. The challenge for future cities is the implementation of a mechanism that minimizes the need for injection of new energy resources in them, so that a high level of self-sufficiency can be achieved through the concept of circular economy, thus partially mitigating the impacts of climate change. Using solar energy today is considered to be one of the best solutions that can be installed in buildings to help with this issue. This book addresses several relevant aspects related to energy saving at cities, including a deep survey of research topics and scientific collaborations in energy saving. The main research topics carried out are related to sustainability, solar energy, the use of rooftops for energy generation, energy conversion from urban biomass or residues, wind energy, and public and private urban energy saving.
Distributed and Parallel Architectures for Spatial Data
This book aims at promoting new and innovative studies, proposing new architectures or innovative evolutions of existing ones, and illustrating experiments on current technologies in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of distributed and cluster systems when they deal with spatiotemporal data.
Symmetry-Adapted Machine Learning for Information Security
Symmetry-adapted machine learning has shown encouraging ability to mitigate the security risks in information and communication technology (ICT) systems. It is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI) that relies on the principles of processing future events by learning past events or historical data. The autonomous nature of symmetry-adapted machine learning supports effective data processing and analysis for security detection in ICT systems without the interference of human authorities. Many industries are developing machine-learning-adapted solutions to support security for smart hardware, distributed computing, and the cloud. In our Special Issue book, we focus on the deployment of symmetry-adapted machine learning for information security in various application areas. This security approach can support effective methods to handle the dynamic nature of security attacks by extraction and analysis of data to identify hidden patterns of data. The main topics of this Issue include malware classification, an intrusion detection system, image watermarking, color image watermarking, battlefield target aggregation behavior recognition model, IP camera, Internet of Things (IoT) security, service function chain, indoor positioning system, and crypto-analysis.
Welding, Joining and Coating of Metallic Materials
This book is a collection of state-of-the-art research works in the field of materials science. Specifically, the works deal with issues related to the welding, joining and coating of metallic materials. These methods are known as main processes in the field of metallurgy, and are usually applied in order to solve complex problems of joining metals or the fabrication of metallic surfaces with required properties and performance. The focus of this book is on metals such as aluminum, magnesium, titanium, various types of steel, intermetallics and shape memory alloys. These scientific works address microstructural evaluation, as well as the performance of the produced joints and coatings. Scientists from all over the globe have presented novel advances and possible solutions for metallic materials joints and coatings for applications in the automotive, aerospace, chemical and medical industries, among others.
Collaborative Innovation
Collaborative Innovation can produce powerful results and move teams and organizations from breakdowns to breakthroughs. The Wright Brothers Institute has pioneered the development and application of this powerful innovation process. This book describes the practices and principles that can be used to stimulate, facilitate, support and sustain Collaborative Innovation.
Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering
This Special Issue "Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering" was proposed and organized to present recent developments in the field of innovative pavement materials and engineering. The 12 articles and state-of-the-art reviews highlighted in this editorial are related to different aspects of pavement engineering, from recycled asphalt pavements to alkali-activated materials, from hot mix asphalt concrete to porous asphalt concrete, from interface bonding to modal analysis, and from destructive testing to non-destructive pavement monitoring by using fiber optics sensors. This Special Issue partly provides an overview of current innovative pavement engineering ideas that have the potential to be implemented in industry in the future, covering some recent developments.
Commemorative Issue to Celebrate the Life and Work of Prof. Roger W.H. Sargent
The structure of sequential behavior and its patterns have attracted the attention of researchers from various disciplines, such as game theory, human and animal behavior, evolutionary ecology, psychology, behavioral economy, and cognitive sciences. Sequential behavior seems to be involved in the processes of sequential learning, decision-making processes, and exploratory behavior. There are, however, competing hypotheses regarding the mechanisms involved in the complexity of the behavioral responses of organisms when exposed to changing environments. The behavioral response to different environmental conditions is often utilized in behavioral ecology studies, where the changes in behavior are quantified in terms of probability of dispersal, distance, and speed of movements or time budget, where the time spent on different activities (foraging, resting, explore, etc.) is registered and analyzed in terms of cost-benefit. This book represents a series of articles covering a broad spectrum of organisms and proposes the analysis of sequential behavior utilizing indices commonly applied in the estimation of developmental instability (fluctuating asymmetry, directional asymmetry, and antisymmetry) toward estimating the degree of "Behavioral Instability". Deviations from symmetry will be interpreted in ecological and evolutionary terms, where the cost and benefits of changes of the degree of behavioral instability will be analyzed in terms of overall costs and benefits and its evolutionary significance. Presented in this collection are multidisciplinary studies (theoretical and computational as well as experimental and empirical approaches) that validate the proposed approach and pave the way for future investigation in the novel field of what is best described as behavioral instability.
