Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics, Volume 211, merges two long-running serials, Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics and Advances in Optical and Electron Microscopy. The series features extended articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science, digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy and the computing methods used in all these domains.

FOCAPD-19/Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Foundations of Computer-Aided Process Design, July 14 - 18, 2019, compiles the presentations given at the Ninth International Conference on Foundations of Computer-Aided Process Design, FOCAPD-2019. It highlights the meetings held at this event that brings together researchers, educators and practitioners to identify new challenges and opportunities for process and product design.

This open access book provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in research and applications of Foundation Models and is intended for readers familiar with basic Natural Language Processing (NLP) concepts.  Over the recent years, a revolutionary new paradigm has been developed for training models for NLP. These models are first pre-trained on large collections of text documents to acquire general syntactic knowledge and semantic information. Then, they are fine-tuned for specific tasks, which they can often solve with superhuman accuracy. When the models are large enough, they can be instructed by prompts to solve new tasks without any fine-tuning. Moreover, they can be applied to a wide range of different media and problem domains, ranging from image and video processing to robot control learning. Because they provide a blueprint for solving many tasks in artificial intelligence, they have been called Foundation Models.  After a brief introduction to basic NLP models the main pre-trained language models BERT, GPT and sequence-to-sequence transformer are described, as well as the concepts of self-attention and context-sensitive embedding. Then, different approaches to improving these models are discussed, such as expanding the pre-training criteria, increasing the length of input texts, or including extra knowledge. An overview of the best-performing models for about twenty application areas is then presented, e.g., question answering, translation, story generation, dialog systems, generating images from text, etc. For each application area, the strengths and weaknesses of current models are discussed, and an outlook on further developments is given. In addition, links are provided to freely available program code. A concluding chapter summarizes the economic opportunities, mitigation of risks, and potential developments of AI.

Capturing, recording and broadcasting the voice is often difficult. Many factors must be taken into account and achieving a true representation is much more complex than one might think. The capture devices such as the position of the singer(s) or narrator(s), the acoustics, atmosphere and equipment are just some of the physical aspects that need to be mastered. Then there is the passage through the analog or digital channel, which disrupts the audio signal, as well as the processes that are often required to enrich, improve or even transform the vocal timbre and tessitura. While in the past these processes were purely material, today digital technologies and software produce surprising results that every professional in recording and broadcasting should know how to master. Recording and Voice Processing 1 addresses some general theoretical concepts. A history of recording and the physiology of the vocal apparatus are detailed in order to give the reader an understanding of the fundamental aspects of the subject. This volume also includes an advanced study of microphones, addressing their characteristics and typologies. The acoustic environment and its treatment are also considered in terms of the location of the sound capture - whether in a home studio, recording studio, live or natural environment - in order to achieve a satisfactory sound recording.

Practical Guide for Biomedical Signals Analysis Using Machine Learning Techniques: A MATLAB Based Approach presents how machine learning and biomedical signal processing methods can be used in biomedical signal analysis. Different machine learning applications in biomedical signal analysis, including those for electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram and electromyogram are described in a practical and comprehensive way, helping readers with limited knowledge. Sections cover biomedical signals and machine learning techniques, biomedical signals, such as electroencephalogram (EEG), electromyogram (EMG) and electrocardiogram (ECG), different signal-processing techniques, signal de-noising, feature extraction and dimension reduction techniques, such as PCA, ICA, KPCA, MSPCA, entropy measures, and other statistical measures, and more. This book is a valuable source for bioinformaticians, medical doctors and other members of the biomedical field who need a cogent resource on the most recent and promising machine learning techniques for biomedical signals analysis.

Advances in Nonvolatile Memory and Storage Technology, Second Edition, addresses recent developments in the non-volatile memory spectrum, from fundamental understanding, to technological aspects. The book provides up-to-date information on the current memory technologies as related by leading experts in both academia and industry. To reflect the rapidly changing field, many new chapters have been included to feature the latest in RRAM technology, STT-RAM, memristors and more. The new edition describes the emerging technologies including oxide-based ferroelectric memories, MRAM technologies, and 3D memory. Finally, to further widen the discussion on the applications space, neuromorphic computing aspects have been included. This book is a key resource for postgraduate students and academic researchers in physics, materials science and electrical engineering. In addition, it will be a valuable tool for research and development managers concerned with electronics, semiconductors, nanotechnology, solid-state memories, magnetic materials, organic materials and portable electronic devices.

Recent advances in information and communication technologies have enhanced the standards of metropolitan planning and development. With the increase in mobile communication, this will help to deliver innovative new services and apps in the field of urban e-planning. New Approaches, Methods, and Tools in Urban E-Planning is a key resource for the latest academic research on recent innovations in urban e-planning, citizen e-participation, the use of social media, and new forms of data collection and idea generation for urban planning. Presenting broad coverage among a variety of pertinent views and themes such as ethnography, e-consultation, and civic engagement, this book is ideally designed for planners, policymakers, researchers, and graduate students interested in how recent technological advancements are enhancing the traditional practices in e-planning.

Feature Extraction for Image Processing and Computer Vision is an essential guide to the implementation of image processing and computer vision techniques, with tutorial introductions and sample code in MATLAB and Python. Algorithms are presented and fully explained to enable complete understanding of the methods and techniques demonstrated. As one reviewer noted, "The main strength of the proposed book is the link between theory and exemplar code of the algorithms." Essential background theory is carefully explained. This text gives students and researchers in image processing and computer vision a complete introduction to classic and state-of-the art methods in feature extraction together with practical guidance on their implementation.

Social media has emerged as a powerful tool that reaches a wide audience with minimum time and effort. It has a diverse role in society and human life and can boost the visibility of information that allows citizens the ability to play a vital role in creating and fostering social change. This practice can have both positive and negative consequences on society. Examining the Roles of IT and Social Media in Democratic Development and Social Change is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of social media within community development and democracy. While highlighting topics including information capitalism, ethical issues, and e-governance, this book is ideally designed for social workers, politicians, public administrators, sociologists, journalists, policymakers, government administrators, academicians, researchers, and students seeking current research on social advancement and change through social media and technology.

Distributed systems intertwine with our everyday lives. The benefits and current shortcomings of the underpinning technologies are experienced by a wide range of people and their smart devices. With the rise of large-scale IoT and similar distributed systems, cloud bursting technologies, and partial outsourcing solutions, private entities are encouraged to increase their efficiency and offer unparalleled availability and reliability to their users. Applying Integration Techniques and Methods in Distributed Systems is a critical scholarly publication that defines the current state of distributed systems, determines further goals, and presents architectures and service frameworks to achieve highly integrated distributed systems and presents solutions to integration and efficient management challenges faced by current and future distributed systems. Highlighting topics such as multimedia, programming languages, and smart environments, this book is ideal for system administrators, integrators, designers, developers, researchers, and academicians.