![[News Releases] / Illinois Institute of Technology, Dept. of Public Relations.; Sep 1953 - Oct 1953](https://cdn.kingstone.com.tw/english/images/product/0649/9781013370649.webp "[News Releases] / Illinois Institute of Technology, Dept. of Public Relations.; Sep 1953 - Oct 1953")
Growing the Stone Fruits - With Information on Growing Cherries, Peaches and Plums
This antiquarian volume comprises a detailed and concise guide to growing the stone fruits, with information on growing cherries, peaches, and plums. Written in simple, clear language and full of handy tips and practicable information, this guide is ideal for the beginner, and would make for a worthy addition to collections of allied literature. The chapters of this book include: 'The Stone Fruits', 'Diseases of the Cherry', 'Insects of the Cherry', 'Peach', 'Diseases of the Peach', 'Insects of the Peach', 'Plum', 'Diseases of the Plum', 'Insects of the Plum', etcetera. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly hard-to-come-by and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern edition. It now comes complete with a specially commissioned introduction on fruit growing.
Growing Grapes and Small Fruits for Profit
This antiquarian book contains a concise and detailed guide to growing grapes and small fruits for profit, with information on common problems, fertilisation, planting methods, and much more. Written in plain language and including a wealth of useful illustrations, this text is perfect for the novice grower, and would make for a great addition to collections of plant growing literature. Although old, the information contained within this guide is timeless, and will be of considerable utility to the modern reader. The chapters of this book include: 'Methods of Propagating Grapes', 'The Planting', 'Methods of Cultivation', 'Fertilizing Grapes', 'Training Canes', 'Methods of Planting', 'Selecting Varieties of Grapes', etcetera. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly hard-to-come-by and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern edition - complete with a specially commissioned introduction on fruit growing.
Optical MEMS
Optical microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), microoptoelectromechanical systems (MOEMS), or optical microsystems are devices or systems that interact with light through actuation or sensing at a micro- or millimeter scale. Optical MEMS have had enormous commercial success in projectors, displays, and fiberoptic communications. The best-known example is Texas Instruments' digital micromirror devices (DMDs). The development of optical MEMS was impeded seriously by the Telecom Bubble in 2000. Fortunately, DMDs grew their market size even in that economy downturn. Meanwhile, in the last one and half decade, the optical MEMS market has been slowly but steadily recovering. During this time, the major technological change was the shift of thin-film polysilicon microstructures to single-crystal-silicon microsructures. Especially in the last few years, cloud data centers are demanding large-port optical cross connects (OXCs) and autonomous driving looks for miniature LiDAR, and virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) demands tiny optical scanners. This is a new wave of opportunities for optical MEMS. Furthermore, several research institutes around the world have been developing MOEMS devices for extreme applications (very fine tailoring of light beam in terms of phase, intensity, or wavelength) and/or extreme environments (vacuum, cryogenic temperatures) for many years. Accordingly, this Special Issue seeks to showcase research papers, short communications, and review articles that focus on (1) novel design, fabrication, control, and modeling of optical MEMS devices based on all kinds of actuation/sensing mechanisms; and (2) new developments of applying optical MEMS devices of any kind in consumer electronics, optical communications, industry, biology, medicine, agriculture, physics, astronomy, space, or defense.
Efficiency of Bank Filtration and Post-Treatment
Riverbank filtration (RBF) schemes for the production of drinking water are increasingly challenged by new constituents of concern, such as organic micropollutants and pathogens in the source water and hydrological flow variations due to weather extremes. RBF and new technology components are integrated and monitoring and operating regimes are adopted to further optimize water treatment in bank filtration schemes for these new requirements. This Special Issue presents results from the EU project AquaNES "Demonstrating synergies in combined natural and engineered processes for water treatment systems" (www.aquanes.eu). Additionally, papers from other research groups cover the efficiency of bank filtration and post-treatment, advantages and limitations of combining natural and engineered processes, parameter-specific assessment of removal rates during bank filtration, and the design and operation of RBF wells. The feasibility, design, and operation of RBF schemes under specific site conditions are highlighted for sites in the US, India, and South Korea
Optimisation Models and Methods in Energy Systems
Challenging problems arise in all segments of energy industries--generation, transmission, distribution and consumption. Optimization models and methods play a key role in offering decision/policy makers better information to assist them in making sounder decisions at different levels, ranging from operational to strategic planning. This book comprises nine papers addressing problems such as the selection of offshore wind farm locations, a model for the analysis of regional energy system management and emission reduction potential, the management of building microgrid networks in islanded mode considering adjustable power and component outages, the portfolio optimization of power generation assets, a graph theoretic approach to optimal firefighting in oil terminals, a university building test case for occupancy-based building automation, the prospects of a meshed electrical distribution system featuring large-scale variable renewable power, a generation expansion planning model for an integrated energy system considering feasible operation region and the generation efficiency of combined heat and power, and the consideration of wind power generation in Brazil's long-term energy planning model.
Selected Papers from IEEE ICKII 2018
Electronic engineering and design innovation are both academic and practical engineering fields that involve systematic technological materialization through scientific principles and engineering designs. Technological innovation via electronic engineering includes electrical circuits and devices, computer science and engineering, communications and information processing, and electrical engineering communications. The Special Issue selected excellent papers presented at the International Conference on Knowledge Innovation and Invention 2018 (IEEE ICKII 2018) on the topic of electronics and their applications. This conference was held on Jeju Island, South Korea, 23-27 July 2018, and it provided a unified communication platform for researchers from all over the world. The main goal of this Special Issue titled "Selected papers from IEEE ICKII 2018" is to discover new scientific knowledge relevant to the topic of electronics and their applications.
Recent Advances in Hydro- and Biohydrometallurgy
This Special Issue of Minerals presents recent, select studies that highlight advances in the fields of hydro- and biohydrometallurgy. It aims to attract the interest of readers and especially of young scientists and students in this fascinating scientific discipline. The topics addressed include the following: - Stirred reactor and heap leaching of laterites (limonitic and saprolitic), as well as iron control during atmospheric acid leaching; - Leaching of a typical porphyry copper sulfide deposit from Antofagasta, Chile, using chloride-ferrous solutions; - Leaching of chalcopyrite ores with various leaching media; - Leaching of white metal from a Teniente converter in NaCl-H2SO4 media; - Study of the galvanic effect of pyrite and arsenopyrite during the leaching of gold ores; - Leaching of marine nodules in the presence of reducing agents to extract Mn; - Bioleaching of gold ores in the presence of iodide-oxidizing bacteria; - A two-step sequential leaching process, involving bioleaching and chemical leaching, to treat apatite ores containing P and U impurities; - Bioreductive dissolution of iron minerals present in monazite in stirred reactors using Acidithiobacillus (A.) species; - Heap leaching of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash (MSWI BA) for the recovery of Zn and Cu.
Reducing the Seismic Vulnerability of Existing Buildings Assessment and Retrofit
Devastating seismic events occurring all over the world keep raising the awareness of the scientific, technical and political communities to the need of identifying assets at risk and developing more effective and cost-efficient seismic risk mitigation strategies. Significant advances in earthquake engineering research have been achieved with the rise of new technologies and techniques with potential use in risk assessment, management and mitigation. Nevertheless, there is still much to be done, particularly with regard to existing buildings, most of them built without anti-seismic provisions. The wide variety of construction and structural systems, associated with the complex behaviour of their materials, greatly limit the application of current codes and building standards to the existing building stock. To tackle this issue, there is a fundamental need for developing multidisciplinary research that can lead to the development of more sophisticated and reliable methods of analysis, as well as to improved seismic retrofitting techniques compliant with buildings conservation principles. This book intends to contribute to the aforementioned goal by stimulating the exchange of ideas and knowledge on the assessment and reduction of the seismic vulnerability of existing buildings. 10 high quality contributions authored by international experts from Italy, Portugal, Morocco, Nepal, Czech Republic and Spain are included herein. All contributions pursue the protection of existing buildings by considering the most updated methods and advanced solutions emerging from different fields of expertise.
Optimization Methods Applied to Power Systems
This book presents an interesting sample of the latest advances in optimization techniques applied to electrical power engineering. It covers a variety of topics from various fields, ranging from classical optimization such as Linear and Nonlinear Programming and Integer and Mixed-Integer Programming to the most modern methods based on bio-inspired metaheuristics. The featured papers invite readers to delve further into emerging optimization techniques and their real application to case studies such as conventional and renewable energy generation, distributed generation, transport and distribution of electrical energy, electrical machines and power electronics, network optimization, intelligent systems, advances in electric mobility, etc.
Hollow Core Optical Fibers
The possibility of guiding light in air has fascinated optical scientists and engineers since the dawn of optical fiber technology. In the last few years, hollow core optical fibers have been attracting the attention of an expanding worldwide research community, furthering the design, fabrication and device implementation of specialty optical fibers. Hollow core optical fibers are entering almost any specific application field of optics from medicine to security; from telecommunication to industrial processing; from instrumentation to biology. In parallel to the increased number of applications, major advances are still being made on the optimization of hollow core fiber designs and on the study of its underlying guiding properties, as well as in the use of different materials and fabrication techniques, which, in turn, are providing even more ways of exploitation of this technology and new technical challenges. This Special Issue of Fibers rides the wave of this increasing interest in the field of hollow core optical fibers by providing an overview of the recent progress in this field as well as an updated and indicative sample of current research activities worldwide.
Silver Nano/microparticles
Nano/micro-size particles are widely applied in various fields. Among the various particles, silver particles are considered among the most prominent nanomaterials in the biomedical and industrial sectors because of their favorable physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. Thus, numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate their properties and utilize them in various applications, such as diagnostics, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer therapeutics, and optoelectronics. The properties of silver particles are strongly influenced by their size, morphological shape, and surface characteristics, which can be modified by diverse synthetic methods, reducing agents, and stabilizers. This Special Issue provides a range of original contributions detailing the synthesis, modification, properties, and applications of silver materials. Nine outstanding papers describing examples of the most recent advances in silver nano/microparticles are included. Silver nano/micro-size particles have many potential advantages as next-generation materials in various areas, including nanomedicine. This Special Issue might be helpful to understand the value of silver particles in the biomedical and industrial fields
Optimization Methods Applied to Power Systems
This book presents an interesting sample of the latest advances in optimization techniques applied to electrical power engineering. It covers a variety of topics from various fields, ranging from classical optimization such as Linear and Nonlinear Programming and Integer and Mixed-Integer Programming to the most modern methods based on bio-inspired metaheuristics. The featured papers invite readers to delve further into emerging optimization techniques and their real application to case studies such as conventional and renewable energy generation, distributed generation, transport and distribution of electrical energy, electrical machines and power electronics, network optimization, intelligent systems, advances in electric mobility, etc.
Nanoelectronic Materials, Devices and Modeling
As CMOS scaling is approaching the fundamental physical limits, a wide range of new nanoelectronic materials and devices have been proposed and explored to extend and/or replace the current electronic devices and circuits so as to maintain progress with respect to speed and integration density. The major limitations, including low carrier mobility, degraded subthreshold slope, and heat dissipation, have become more challenging to address as the size of silicon-based metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) has decreased to nanometers, while device integration density has increased. This book aims to present technical approaches that address the need for new nanoelectronic materials and devices. The focus is on new concepts and knowledge in nanoscience and nanotechnology for applications in logic, memory, sensors, photonics, and renewable energy. This research on nanoelectronic materials and devices will be instructive in finding solutions to address the challenges of current electronics in switching speed, power consumption, and heat dissipation and will be of great interest to academic society and the industry.
Middleware Solutions for Wireless Internet of Things
The proliferation of powerful but cheap devices, together with the availability of a plethora of wireless technologies, has pushed for the spread of the Wireless Internet of Things (WIoT), which is typically much more heterogeneous, dynamic, and general-purpose if compared with the traditional IoT. The WIoT is characterized by the dynamic interaction of traditional infrastructure-side devices, e.g., sensors and actuators, provided by municipalities in Smart City infrastructures, and other portable and more opportunistic ones, such as mobile smartphones, opportunistically integrated to dynamically extend and enhance the WIoT environment.A key enabler of this vision is the advancement of software and middleware technologies in various mobile-related sectors, ranging from the effective synergic management of wireless communications to mobility/adaptivity support in operating systems and differentiated integration and management of devices with heterogeneous capabilities in middleware, from horizontal support to crowdsourcing in different application domains to dynamic offloading to cloud resources, only to mention a few.The book presents state-of-the-art contributions in the articulated WIoT area by providing novel insights about the development and adoption of middleware solutions to enable the WIoT vision in a wide spectrum of heterogeneous scenarios, ranging from industrial environments to educational devices. The presented solutions provide readers with differentiated point of views, by demonstrating how the WIoT vision can be applied to several aspects of our daily life in a pervasive manner.
Integrated Role of Nutrition and Physical Activity for Lifelong Health
As computer and space technologies have been developed, geoscience information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) technologies, which deal with the geospatial information, have been rapidly maturing. Moreover, over the last few decades, machine learning techniques including artificial neural network (ANN), deep learning, decision tree, and support vector machine (SVM) have been successfully applied to geospatial science and engineering research fields. The machine learning techniques have been widely applied to GIS and RS research fields and have recently produced valuable results in the areas of geoscience, environment, natural hazards, and natural resources. This book is a collection representing novel contributions detailing machine learning techniques as applied to geoscience information systems and remote sensing.
New Trends in Recycled Aggregate Concrete
This book is the result of a Special Issue published in Applied Sciences, entitled "New Trends in Recycled Aggregate Concrete". It identifies emerging research areas within the field of recycled aggregate concrete and contributes to the increased use of this eco-efficient material. Its contents are organised in the following sections: Upscaling the use of recycled aggregate concrete in structural design; Large scale applications of recycled aggregate concrete; Long-term behaviour of recycled aggregate concrete; Performance of recycled aggregate concrete in very aggressive environments; Reliability of recycled aggregate concrete structures; Life cycle assessment of recycled aggregate concrete; New applications of recycled aggregate concrete.
Power Electronics in Renewable Energy Systems
This book offers a collection of 30 scientific papers which address the problems associated with the use of power electronic converters in renewable energy source-based systems. Relevant problems associated with the use of power electronic converters to integrate renewable energy systems to the power grid are presented. Some of the covered topics relate to the integration of photovoltaic and wind energy generators into the rest of the system, and to the use of energy storage to mitigate power fluctuations, which are a characteristic of renewable energy systems. The book provides a good overview of the abovementioned topics.
Multiscale and Innovative Kinetic Approaches in Heterogeneous Catalysis
Kinetics and reactor modeling for heterogeneous catalytic reactions are prominent tools for investigating and understanding catalyst functionalities at nanoscale and the related rates of complex reaction networks. This book illustrates some examples related to the transformation of simple to more complex feedstocks, including different types of reactor designs, i.e., steady-state, transient plug flow reactors, and TAP reactors for which there is sometimes a strong gap in the operating conditions from ultra-high-vacuum to high-pressure conditions. In conjunction, new methodologies have emerged, giving rise to more robust microkinetics models. As exemplified, they include the kinetics and the dynamics of the reactors and span a large range of length and time scales. The objective of this Special Issue is to provide contributions that can illustrate recent advances and novel methodologies for elucidating the kinetics of heterogeneous reactions and the necessary multiscale approach for optimizing the reactor design. This book is dedicated to postgraduate and scientific researchers, and experts in heterogeneous catalysis. It may also serve as a source of original information for the elaboration of lessons on catalysis for Master students.
Humidity Sensors
The Tsinghua University-University of Waterloo Joint Research Center for Micro/Nano Energy & Environment Technology (JCMEET) is a platform. It was established on Nov.11, 2017. The Chairperson of University Council of Tsinghua University, Dr. Xu Chen, and the President of the University of Waterloo, Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, attended the opening ceremony and unveiled the nameplate for the joint research center on 29th of March, 2018.The research center serves as a platform for researchers at both universities to conduct joint research in the targeted areas, and to meet regularly for information exchange, talent exchange, and knowledge mobilization, especially in the fields of micro/nano, energy, and environmental technologies. The center focuses on three main interests: micro/nano energy technology, micro/nano pollution control technology, and relevant fundamental research.In order to celebrate the first anniversary of the Joint Research Center, we were invited to serve as the Guest Editors of this Special Issue of Materials focusing on the topic of micro/nano-materials for clean energy and environment. It collects research papers from a broad range of topics related to micro/nanostructured materials aimed at future energy resources, low emission energy conversion, energy storage, energy efficiency improvement, air emission control, air monitoring, air cleaning, and many other related applications.This Special Issue provides an opportunity and example for the international community to discuss how to actively address the energy and environment issues that we are facing.
Methods in Computational Biology
Modern biology is rapidly becoming a study of large sets of data. Understanding these data sets is a major challenge for most life sciences, including the medical, environmental, and bioprocess fields. Computational biology approaches are essential for leveraging this ongoing revolution in omics data. A primary goal of this Special Issue, entitled "Methods in Computational Biology", is the communication of computational biology methods, which can extract biological design principles from complex data sets, described in enough detail to permit the reproduction of the results. This issue integrates interdisciplinary researchers such as biologists, computer scientists, engineers, and mathematicians to advance biological systems analysis. The Special Issue contains the following sections: - Reviews of Computational Methods - Computational Analysis of Biological Dynamics: From Molecular to Cellular to Tissue/Consortia Levels - The Interface of Biotic and Abiotic Processes - Processing of Large Data Sets for Enhanced Analysis - Parameter Optimization and Measurement
Structure and Mechanical Properties of Transition Group Metals, Alloys, and Intermetallic Compounds
The aim of this Special Issue is to present the latest theoretical and experimental achievements concerning the mechanisms of microstructural change in metallic materials subject to different processing methods, and their effect on mechanical properties. It is my pleasure to present a series of compelling scientific papers written by scientists from the community of transition group metals, alloys, and intermetallic compounds.
Sustainability of Fossil Fuels
The energy and fuel industries represent an extensive field for the development and implementation of solutions aimed at improving the technological, environmental, and economic performance of technological cycles. In recent years, the issues of ecology and energy security have become especially important. Energy is firmly connected with all spheres of human economic life but, unfortunately, it also has an extremely negative (often fatal) effect on the environment and public health. Depletion of energy resources, the complexity of their extraction, and transportation are also problems of a global scale. Therefore, it is especially important nowadays to try to take care of nature and think about the resources that are necessary for future generations. For scientific teams in different countries, the development of sustainable and safe technologies for the use of fuels in the energy sector will be a challenge in the coming decades
Molecular Computing and Bioinformatics
This text will provide the most recent knowledge and advances in the area of molecular computing and bioinformatics. Molecular computing and bioinformatics have a close relationship, paying attention to the same object but working towards different orientations. The articles will range from topics such as DNA computing and membrane computing to specific biomedical applications, including drug R&D and disease analysis.
Autonomous Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being increasingly used in different applications in both military and civilian domains. These applications include surveillance, reconnaissance, remote sensing, target acquisition, border patrol, infrastructure monitoring, aerial imaging, industrial inspection, and emergency medical aid. Vehicles that can be considered autonomous must be able to make decisions and react to events without direct intervention by humans. Although some UAVs are able to perform increasingly complex autonomous manoeuvres, most UAVs are not fully autonomous; instead, they are mostly operated remotely by humans. To make UAVs fully autonomous, many technological and algorithmic developments are still required. For instance, UAVs will need to improve their sensing of obstacles and subsequent avoidance. This becomes particularly important as autonomous UAVs start to operate in civilian airspaces that are occupied by other aircraft. The aim of this volume is to bring together the work of leading researchers and practitioners in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles with a common interest in their autonomy. The contributions that are part of this volume present key challenges associated with the autonomous control of unmanned aerial vehicles, and propose solution methodologies to address such challenges, analyse the proposed methodologies, and evaluate their performance.
Micro/Nano Materials for Clean Energy and Environment
The Tsinghua University-University of Waterloo Joint Research Center for Micro/Nano Energy & Environment Technology (JCMEET) is a platform. It was established on Nov.11, 2017. The Chairperson of University Council of Tsinghua University, Dr. Xu Chen, and the President of the University of Waterloo, Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, attended the opening ceremony and unveiled the nameplate for the joint research center on 29th of March, 2018.The research center serves as a platform for researchers at both universities to conduct joint research in the targeted areas, and to meet regularly for information exchange, talent exchange, and knowledge mobilization, especially in the fields of micro/nano, energy, and environmental technologies. The center focuses on three main interests: micro/nano energy technology, micro/nano pollution control technology, and relevant fundamental research.In order to celebrate the first anniversary of the Joint Research Center, we were invited to serve as the Guest Editors of this Special Issue of Materials focusing on the topic of micro/nano-materials for clean energy and environment. It collects research papers from a broad range of topics related to micro/nanostructured materials aimed at future energy resources, low emission energy conversion, energy storage, energy efficiency improvement, air emission control, air monitoring, air cleaning, and many other related applications.This Special Issue provides an opportunity and example for the international community to discuss how to actively address the energy and environment issues that we are facing.
Geoinformatics in Citizen Science
The book features contributions that report original research in the theoretical, technological, and social aspects of geoinformation methods, as applied to supporting citizen science. Specifically, the book focuses on the technological aspects of the field and their application toward the recruitment of volunteers and the collection, management, and analysis of geotagged information to support volunteer involvement in scientific projects. Internationally renowned research groups share research in three areas: First, the key methods of geoinformatics within citizen science initiatives to support scientists in discovering new knowledge in specific application domains or in performing relevant activities, such as reliable geodata filtering, management, analysis, synthesis, sharing, and visualization; second, the critical aspects of citizen science initiatives that call for emerging or novel approaches of geoinformatics to acquire and handle geoinformation; and third, novel geoinformatics research that could serve in support of citizen science.
Development of CMOS-MEMS/NEMS Devices
Micro and nano-electro-mechanical system (M/NEMS) devices constitute key technological building blocks to enable increased additional functionalities within Integrated Circuits (ICs) in the More-Than-Moore era, as described in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. The CMOS ICs and M/NEMS dies can be combined in the same package (SiP), or integrated within a single chip (SoC). In the SoC approach the M/NEMS devices are monolithically integrated together with CMOS circuitry allowing the development of compact and low-cost CMOS-M/NEMS devices for multiple applications (physical sensors, chemical sensors, biosensors, actuators, energy actuators, filters, mechanical relays, and others). On-chip CMOS electronics integration can overcome limitations related to the extremely low-level signals in sub-micrometer and nanometer scale electromechanical transducers enabling novel breakthrough applications. This Special Issue aims to gather high quality research contributions dealing with MEMS and NEMS devices monolithically integrated with CMOS, independently of the final application and fabrication approach adopted (MEMS-first, interleaved MEMS, MEMS-last or others).]
Selected Papers from the 2018 41st International Conference on Telecommunications and Signal Processing (TSP)
This Special Issue contains a series of excellent research works on telecommunications and signal processing, selected from the 2018 41st International Conference on Telecommunications and Signal Processing (TSP) which was held on July 4-6, 2018, in Athens, Greece. The conference was organized in cooperation with the IEEE Region 8 (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), IEEE Greece Section, IEEE Czechoslovakia Section, and IEEE Czechoslovakia Section SP/CAS/COM Joint Chapter by seventeen universities from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkey, Taiwan, Japan, Slovak Republic, Spain, Bulgaria, France, Slovenia, Croatia, and Poland, for academics, researchers, and developers, and serves as a premier international forum for the annual exchange and promotion of the latest advances in telecommunication technology and signal processing. The aim of the conference is to bring together both novice and experienced scientists, developers, and specialists, to meet new colleagues, collect new ideas, and establish new cooperation between research groups from universities, research centers, and private sectors worldwide. This collection of 10 papers is highly recommended for researchers, and believed to be interesting, inspiring, and motivating for readers in their further research.
Applications of Power Electronics
Power electronics technology is still an emerging technology, and it has found its way into many applications, from renewable energy generation (i.e., wind power and solar power) to electrical vehicles (EVs), biomedical devices, and small appliances, such as laptop chargers. In the near future, electrical energy will be provided and handled by power electronics and consumed through power electronics; this not only will intensify the role of power electronics technology in power conversion processes, but also implies that power systems are undergoing a paradigm shift, from centralized distribution to distributed generation. Today, more than 1000 GW of renewable energy generation sources (photovoltaic (PV) and wind) have been installed, all of which are handled by power electronics technology. The main aim of this book is to highlight and address recent breakthroughs in the range of emerging applications in power electronics and in harmonic and electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues at device and system levels as discussed in robust and reliable power electronics technologies, including fault prognosis and diagnosis technique stability of grid-connected converters and smart control of power electronics in devices, microgrids, and at system levels.
Control and Nonlinear Dynamics on Energy Conversion Systems
The ever-increasing need for higher efficiency, smaller size, and lower cost make the analysis, understanding, and design of energy conversion systems extremely important, interesting, and even imperative. One of the most neglected features in the study of such systems is the effect of the inherent nonlinearities on the stability of the system. Due to these nonlinearities, these devices may exhibit undesirable and complex dynamics, which are the focus of many researchers. Even though a lot of research has taken place in this area during the last 20 years, it is still an active research topic for mainstream power engineers. This research has demonstrated that these systems can become unstable with a direct result in increased losses, extra subharmonics, and even uncontrollability/unobservability. The detailed study of these systems can help in the design of smaller, lighter, and less expensive converters that are particularly important in emerging areas of research like electric vehicles, smart grids, renewable energy sources, and others. The aim of this Special Issue is to cover control and nonlinear aspects of instabilities in different energy conversion systems: theoretical, analysis modelling, and practical solutions for such emerging applications. In this Special Issue, we present novel research works in different areas of the control and nonlinear dynamics of energy conversion systems.
Urban Deformation Monitoring using Persistent Scatterer Interferometry and SAR tomography
This book focuses on remote sensing for urban deformation monitoring. In particular, it highlights how deformation monitoring in urban areas can be carried out using Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Tomography (TomoSAR). Several contributions show the capabilities of Interferometric SAR (InSAR) and PSI techniques for urban deformation monitoring. Some of them show the advantages of TomoSAR in un-mixing multiple scatterers for urban mapping and monitoring. This book is dedicated to the technical and scientific community interested in urban applications. It is useful for choosing the appropriate technique and gaining an assessment of the expected performance. The book will also be useful to researchers, as it provides information on the state-of-the-art and new trends in this field
Biofuels Technology 101
This book examines the various types of biofuels and the most current cellulose ethanol production technology that focuses on cost-effective biomass conversion, along with relevant economic, environmental and policy considerations. It offers a review of biofuels production as an attractive alternative to fossil fuels (crude oil, natural gas and coal) production, with due consideration for benefits ranging from reduced greenhouse gas emissions to reduced dependency on imported oil. It is the author's hope that readers would find this book informative and practical enough to recommend it to others.
Mechanism Design for Robotics
MEDER 2018, the IFToMM International Symposium on Mechanism Design for Robotics, was the fourth event in a series that was started in 2010 as a specific conference activity on mechanisms for robots. The aim of the MEDER Symposium is to bring researchers, industry professionals, and students together from a broad range of disciplines dealing with mechanisms for robots, in an intimate, collegial, and stimulating environment. In the 2018 MEDER event, we received significant attention regarding this initiative, as can be seen by the fact that the Proceedings contain contributions by authors from all around the world. The Proceedings of the MEDER 2018 Symposium have been published within the Springer book series on MMS, and the book contains 52 papers that have been selected after review for oral presentation. These papers cover several aspects of the wide field of robotics dealing with mechanism aspects in theory, design, numerical evaluations, and applications. This Special Issue of Robotics (https: //www.mdpi.com/journal/robotics/special_issues/MDR) has been obtained as a result of a second review process and selection, but all the papers that have been accepted for MEDER 2018 are of very good quality with interesting contents that are suitable for journal publication, and the selection process has been difficult.
Civil Engineering and Symmetry
A topic of utmost importance in civil engineering is finding optimal solutions throughout the life cycle of buildings and infrastructural objects, including their design, manufacturing, use, and maintenance. Operational research, management science, and optimization methods provide a consistent and applicable groundwork for engineering decision-making. These topics have received the interest of researchers and, after a rigorous peer-review process, eight papers have been published in this Special Issue. The articles in this Printed Edition demonstrate how solutions in civil engineering, which bring economic, social, and environmental benefits, are obtained through a variety of methodologies and tools. Usually, decision-makers need to take into account not just a single criterion, but several different criteria and, therefore, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approaches have been suggested for application in five of the published papers; the rest of the papers apply other research methods. Most approaches suggested decision models under uncertainty, proposing hybrid MCDM methods in combination with fuzzy or rough set theory, as well as D-numbers. The application areas of the proposed MCDM techniques mainly cover production/manufacturing engineering, logistics and transportation, and construction engineering and management. We hope that a summary of the Special Issue as provided here will encourage a detailed analysis of the papers included in the Printed Edition.
Side Channel Attacks
This Special Issue provides an opportunity for researchers in the area of side-channel attacks (SCAs) to highlight the most recent exciting technologies. The research papers published in this Special Issue represent recent progress in the field, including research on power analysis attacks, cache-based timing attacks, system-level countermeasures, and so on.
Sensors in Agriculture
Agriculture requires technical solutions for increasing production while lessening environmental impact by reducing the application of agro-chemicals and increasing the use of environmentally friendly management practices. A benefit of this is the reduction of production costs. Sensor technologies produce tools to achieve the abovementioned goals. The explosive technological advances and developments in recent years have enormously facilitated the attainment of these objectives, removing many barriers for their implementation, including the reservations expressed by farmers. Precision agriculture and 'smart farming' are emerging areas where sensor-based technologies play an important role. Farmers, researchers, and technical manufacturers are joining their efforts to find efficient solutions, improvements in production, and reductions in costs. This book brings together recent research and developments concerning novel sensors and their applications in agriculture. Sensors in agriculture are based on the requirements of farmers, according to the farming operations that need to be addressed.
Sensors in Agriculture
Agriculture requires technical solutions for increasing production while lessening environmental impact by reducing the application of agro-chemicals and increasing the use of environmentally friendly management practices. A benefit of this is the reduction of production costs. Sensor technologies produce tools to achieve the abovementioned goals. The explosive technological advances and developments in recent years have enormously facilitated the attainment of these objectives, removing many barriers for their implementation, including the reservations expressed by farmers. Precision agriculture and 'smart farming' are emerging areas where sensor-based technologies play an important role. Farmers, researchers, and technical manufacturers are joining their efforts to find efficient solutions, improvements in production, and reductions in costs. This book brings together recent research and developments concerning novel sensors and their applications in agriculture. Sensors in agriculture are based on the requirements of farmers, according to the farming operations that need to be addressed.
Energy
A "meticulously researched" (The New York Times Book Review) examination of energy transitions over time and an exploration of the current challenges presented by global warming, a surging world population, and renewable energy--from Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author Richard Rhodes.People have lived and died, businesses have prospered and failed, and nations have risen to world power and declined, all over energy challenges. Through an unforgettable cast of characters, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes explains how wood gave way to coal and coal made room for oil, as we now turn to natural gas, nuclear power, and renewable energy. "Entertaining and informative...a powerful look at the importance of science" (NPR.org), Rhodes looks back on five centuries of progress, through such influential figures as Queen Elizabeth I, King James I, Benjamin Franklin, Herman Melville, John D. Rockefeller, and Henry Ford. In his "magisterial history...a tour de force of popular science" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), Rhodes shows how breakthroughs in energy production occurred; from animal and waterpower to the steam engine, from internal-combustion to the electric motor. He looks at the current energy landscape, with a focus on how wind energy is competing for dominance with cast supplies of coal and natural gas. He also addresses the specter of global warming, and a population hurtling towards ten billion by 2100. Human beings have confronted the problem of how to draw energy from raw material since the beginning of time. Each invention, each discovery, each adaptation brought further challenges, and through such transformations, we arrived at where we are today. "A beautifully written, often inspiring saga of ingenuity and progress...Energy brings facts, context, and clarity to a key, often contentious subject" (Booklist, starred review).
Engineers As Leaders
Do engineers have what it takes to move up the economic food chain-to lead? If not, why not? If gaps exist, how can they be closed? What is the difference between an engineer leading engineers versus leading non-engineers? How, if at all, does engineering education influence perceived leadership style? How exactly does one characterize leadership style, and how is it measured? In a book designed and written specifically for engineers and predicated largely on his leadership-oriented doctoral dissertation in pursuit of the PhD in engineering management, Dr. Calloway addresses each of these questions and more!
Engineers As Leaders
Do engineers have what it takes to move up the economic food chain-to lead? If not, why not? If gaps exist, how can they be closed? What is the difference between an engineer leading engineers versus leading non-engineers? How, if at all, does engineering education influence perceived leadership style? How exactly does one characterize leadership style, and how is it measured? In a book designed and written specifically for engineers and predicated largely on his leadership-oriented doctoral dissertation in pursuit of the PhD in engineering management, Dr. Calloway addresses each of these questions and more!
Solution Models Based on Symmetric and Asymmetric Information
This Special Issue covers symmetry and asymmetry phenomena occurring in real-life problems. We invited authors to submit their theoretical or experimental research presenting engineering and economic problem solution models dealing with the symmetry or asymmetry of different types of information. The issue gained interest in the research community and received many submissions. After rigorous scientific evaluation by editors and reviewers, nine papers were accepted and published. The authors proposed different MADM and MODM solution models as integrated tools to find a balance between the components of sustainable global development, to find a symmetry axis concerning goals, risks, and constraints to cope with the complicated problems. Most approaches suggested decision models under uncertainty, combining the usual decision-making methods with interval-valued fuzzy or rough sets theory, also Z numbers. The application fields of the proposed models involved both problems of technological sciences and social sciences. The papers cover three essential areas: engineering, economy, and management. We hope that a summary of the Special Issue as provided here will encourage a detailed analysis of the papers included in the Printed Edition.
Mimicking Nature
Have you ever wondered where inventors get some of their ideas? This answer may surprise you: sometimes the inspiration comes from plants! Learn how some tiny plants have made a huge difference in the world. Created in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, this STEAM book will ignite a curiosity about STEAM topics through real-world examples. It features a hands-on STEAM challenge that is perfect for makerspaces and that guides students step-by-step through the engineering design process. Make STEAM career connections with career advice from Smithsonian employees working in STEAM fields. Ideal for school reports and projects, this informational text will appeal to reluctant readers and ages 6-8.
Process Design, Integration, and Intensification
With the growing emphasis on enhancing the sustainability and efficiency of industrial plants, process integration and intensification are gaining additional interest throughout the chemical engineering community. Some of the hallmarks of process integration and intensification include a holistic perspective in design, and the enhancement of material and energy intensity. The techniques are applicable for individual unit operations, multiple units, a whole industrial facility, or even a cluster of industrial plants. This book aims to cover recent advances in the development and application of process integration and intensification. Specific applications are reported for hydraulic fracturing, palm oil milling processes, desalination, reactive distillation, reaction network, adsorption processes, herbal medicine extraction, as well as process control.
MEMS Accelerometers
Micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) devices are widely used for inertia, pressure, and ultrasound sensing applications. Research on integrated MEMS technology has undergone extensive development driven by the requirements of a compact footprint, low cost, and increased functionality. Accelerometers are among the most widely used sensors implemented in MEMS technology. MEMS accelerometers are showing a growing presence in almost all industries ranging from automotive to medical. A traditional MEMS accelerometer employs a proof mass suspended to springs, which displaces in response to an external acceleration. A single proof mass can be used for one- or multi-axis sensing. A variety of transduction mechanisms have been used to detect the displacement. They include capacitive, piezoelectric, thermal, tunneling, and optical mechanisms. Capacitive accelerometers are widely used due to their DC measurement interface, thermal stability, reliability, and low cost. However, they are sensitive to electromagnetic field interferences and have poor performance for high-end applications (e.g., precise attitude control for the satellite). Over the past three decades, steady progress has been made in the area of optical accelerometers for high-performance and high-sensitivity applications but several challenges are still to be tackled by researchers and engineers to fully realize opto-mechanical accelerometers, such as chip-scale integration, scaling, low bandwidth, etc.This Special Issue on "MEMS Accelerometers" seeks to highlight research papers, short communications, and review articles that focus on: Novel designs, fabrication platforms, characterization, optimization, and modeling of MEMS accelerometers. Alternative transduction techniques with special emphasis on opto-mechanical sensing. Novel applications employing MEMS accelerometers for consumer electronics, industries, medicine, entertainment, navigation, etc. Multi-physics design tools and methodologies, including MEMS-electronics co-design. Novel accelerometer technologies and 9DoF IMU integration. Multi-accelerometer platforms and their data fusion.
Multi-Agent Systems
This Special Issue "Multi-Agent Systems" gathers original research articles reporting results on the steadily growing area of agent-oriented computing and multi-agent systems technologies. After more than 20 years of academic research on multi-agent systems (MASs), in fact, agent-oriented models and technologies have been promoted as the most suitable candidates for the design and development of distributed and intelligent applications in complex and dynamic environments.With respect to both their quality and range, the papers in this Special Issue already represent a meaningful sample of the most recent advancements in the field of agent-oriented models and technologies. In particular, the 17 contributions cover agent-based modeling and simulation, situated multi-agent systems, socio-technical multi-agent systems, and semantic technologies applied to multi-agent systems. In fact, it is surprising to witness how such a limited portion of MAS research already highlights the most relevant usage of agent-based models and technologies, as well as their most appreciated characteristics.We are thus confident that the readers of Applied Sciences will be able to appreciate the growing role that MASs will play in the design and development of the next generation of complex intelligent systems. This Special Issue has been converted into a yearly series, for which a new call for papers is already available at the Applied Sciences journal's website: https: //www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/special_issues/Multi-Agent_Systems_2019.
Sand Control and Gravel Packing Techniques
This book is an introductory reference guide to oil well sand-control and gravel-packing techniques in the oil and gas field. The book examines the common techniques of controlling formation of sand and solids from entering into a wellbore. The author introduces the reader to the tools, equipment, and application methods of sand control and gravel packing. It also talks about the safety precautions one must take during the process. This work may appeal to readers who are interested in oil and gas field techniques.
Emerging Advances in Petrophysics
Due to the influence of pore-throat size distribution, pore connectivity, and microscale fractures, the transport, distribution, and residual saturation of fluids in porous media are difficult to characterize. Petrophysical methods in natural porous media have attracted great attention in a variety of fields, especially in the oil and gas industry. A wide range of research studies have been conducted on the characterization of porous media covers and multiphase flow therein. Reliable approaches for characterizing microstructure and multiphase flow in porous media are crucial in many fields, including the characterization of residual water or oil in hydrocarbon reservoirs and the long-term storage of supercritical CO2 in geological formations. This book gathers together 15 recent works to emphasize fundamental innovations in the field and novel applications of petrophysics in unconventional reservoirs, including experimental studies, numerical modeling (fractal approach), and multiphase flow modeling/simulations. The relevant stakeholders of this book are authorities and service companies working in the petroleum, subsurface water resources, air and water pollution, environmental, and biomaterial sectors.
A Theoretical and Practical Treatise on the Strength of Beams and Columns
A Theoretical and Practical Treatise on the Strength of Beams and Columns is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1889. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.
