Hybrid Intelligent Systems for Information Retrieval covers three areas along with the introduction to Intelligent IR, i.e., Optimal Information Retrieval Using Evolutionary Approaches, Semantic Search for Web Information Retrieval, and Natural Language Processing for Information Retrieval. * Talks about the design, implementation, and performance issues of the hybrid intelligent information retrieval system in one book * Gives a clear insight into challenges and issues in designing a hybrid information retrieval system * Includes case studies on structured and unstructured data for hybrid intelligent information retrieval * Provides research directions for the design and development of intelligent search engines This book is aimed primarily at graduates and researchers in the information retrieval domain.

Discusses all the major tools and techniques for Decision Support System supported by examples Techniques are explained considering their deterministic and stochastic aspects Covers network tools including GERT and Q-GERT Explains application of both probability and fuzzy orientation in the pertinent techniques Includes a number of relevant case studies along with a dedicated chapter on software

This book deals in a basic and systematic manner with the fundamentals of random function theory and looks at some aspects related to arrival, vehicle headway and operational speed processes at the same time. The work serves as a useful practical and educational tool and aims at providing stimulus and motivation to investigate issues of such a strong applicative interest. It has a clearly discursive and concise structure, in which numerical examples are given to clarify the applications of the suggested theoretical model. Some statistical characterizations are fully developed in order to illustrate the peculiarities of specific modeling approaches; finally, there is a useful bibliography for in-depth thematic analysis.

Force and motion control systems of varying degrees of sophistication have shaped the lives of all individuals living in industrialized countries all over the world, and together with communication technology are largely responsible for the high standard ofliving prevalent in many communities. The brains of the vast majority of current control systems are electronic, in the shape of computers, microprocessors or programmable logic controllers (PLC), the nerves are provided by sensors, mainly electromech anical transducers, and the muscle comprises the drive system, in most cases either electric, pneumatic or hydraulic. The factors governing the choice of the most suitable drive are the nature of the application, the performance specification, size, weight, environ mental and safety constraints, with higher power levels favouring hydraulic drives. Past experience, especially in the machine tool sector, has clearly shown that, in the face of competition from electric drives, it is difficult to make a convincing case for hydraulic drives at the bottom end of the power at fractional horsepower level. A further, and frequently range, specifically overriding factor in the choice of drive is the familiarity of the system designer with a particular discipline, which can inhibit the selection of the optimum and most cost-effective solution for a given application. One of the objectives of this book is to help the electrical engineer overcome his natural reluctance to apply any other than electric drives."

This book highlights the development of novel metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells (MS-SOFCs). It describes the metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells (MS-SOFCs) that consist of a microporous stainless steel support, nanoporous electrode composites and a thin ceramic electrolyte using the "tape casting-sintering-infiltrating" method. Further, it investigates the reaction kinetics of the fuel cells' electrodes, structure-performance relationship and degradation mechanism. By optimizing the electrode materials, preparation process for the fuel cells, and nano-micro structure of the electrode, the resulting MS-SOFCs demonstrated (1) great output power densities at low temperatures, e.g., 1.02 W cm-2 at 600 DegreesC, when operating in humidified hydrogen fuels and air oxidants; (2) excellent long-term stability, e.g., a degradation rate of 1.3% kh-1 when measured at 650 DegreesC and 0.9 A cm-2 for 1500 h. The design presented offers a promising pathway for the development of low-cost, high power-density and long-term-stable SOFCs for energy conversion.

Land management issues, such as mapping tree species, recognizing invasive plants, and identifying key geologic features, require an understanding of complex technical issues before the best decisions can be made. Hyperspectral remote sensing is one the technologies that can help with reliable detection and identification. Presenting the fundamentals of remote sensing at an introductory level, Hyperspectral Remote Sensing: Principles and Applications explores all major aspects of hyperspectral image acquisition, exploitation, interpretation, and applications. The book begins with several chapters on the basic concepts and underlying principles of remote sensing images. It introduces spectral radiometry concepts, such as radiance, irradiance, flux, and blackbody radiation; covers imaging spectrometers, examining spectral range, full width half maximum (FWHM), resolution, sampling, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and multispectral and hyperspectral sensor systems; and addresses atmospheric interactions. The book then discusses information extraction, with chapters covering the underlying physics principles that lead to the creation of an image and the interpretation of the image's information. The final chapters describe case studies that illustrate the use of hyperspectral remote sensing in agriculture, environmental monitoring, forestry, and geology. After reading this book, you will have a better understanding of how to evaluate different approaches to hyperspectral analyses and to determine which approaches will work for your applications.

Summarizes current recycling processes, challenges, and perspectives. Offers a comprehensive review of current commercialized LIB recycling companies. Showcases an innovative closed-loop hydrometallurgical recycling process to recycle lithium cathode materials. Provides detailed modelling and economic analysis of several hydrometallurgical recycling processes. Features practical cases and data developed by the authors.

This book focuses on the latest research and developments in photovoltaic (PV) power plants, and provides extensive coverage of fundamental theories, current research and developmental activities, and new approaches intended to overcome a number of critical limitations in today's grid integration technologies. The design and implementation process for large-scale solar PV power plants is introduced. The content provided will actively support the development of future renewable power plants and smart grid applications. The book will be of interest to researchers, professionals and graduate students in electrical and electronics fields seeking to understand the related technologies involved in PV power plants.

A comprehensive approach to Wind Turbine Generator Systems (WTGS) and their operation in dynamic electric power system analysis. The presented advanced models arose from the author's research. They describe the complicated dynamical system behavior of wind turbines much better than the over-simplified static models. In particular, the control structure is taken into account. This book provides advanced tools for design, projection and optimization of turbines and systems that have yet not been available.

Features * Offers a hands-on tutorial on interactive dynamic-system modeling and simulation * Includes examples from physics, aerospace engineering, population dynamics, and physiology * Contains hints for selecting integration rules and step size * Provides a complete, industrial-strength simulation program package on an accompanying CD-ROM New to This Edition * Introduces a new vectorizing compiler for fast vector operations and parameter-influence studies * Incorporates a new treatment of the difference equation programs for modeling sampled-data control systems with digital controllers * Presents improved versions of several classical simulation programs to illustrate useful programming tricks Summary Showing you how to use personal computers for modeling and simulation, Interactive Dynamic-System Simulation, Second Edition provides a practical tutorial on interactive dynamic-system modeling and simulation. It discusses how to effectively simulate dynamical systems, such as aerospace vehicles, power plants, chemical processes, control systems, and physiological systems. Written by a pioneer in simulation, the book introduces dynamic-system models and explains how software for solving differential equations works. After demonstrating real simulation programs with simple examples, the author integrates a new treatment of the difference equation programs needed to model sampled-data control systems with digital controllers. Subsequent chapters provide detailed programming know-how. These chapters cover library, table-lookup, user-definable, limiter, switching, and noise functions; an experiment-protocol scripting language; powerful vector and matrix operations; and classical simulation programs that illustrate a number of useful programming tricks. The final chapter shows how experiment-protocol scripts and compiled DYNAMIC program segments can quickly solve mathematical problems, including fast graph plotting, Fourier transforms

This book examines the requirements, risks, and solutions to improve the security and quality of complex cyber-physical systems (C-CPS), such as production systems, power plants, and airplanes, in order to ascertain whether it is possible to protect engineering organizations against cyber threats and to ensure engineering project quality. The book consists of three parts that logically build upon each other. Part I "Product Engineering of Complex Cyber-Physical Systems" discusses the structure and behavior of engineering organizations producing complex cyber-physical systems, providing insights into processes and engineering activities, and highlighting the requirements and border conditions for secure and high-quality engineering. Part II "Engineering Quality Improvement" addresses quality improvements with a focus on engineering data generation, exchange, aggregation, and use within an engineering organization, and the need for proper data modeling and engineering-result validation. Lastly, Part III "Engineering Security Improvement" considers security aspects concerning C-CPS engineering, including engineering organizations' security assessments and engineering data management, security concepts and technologies that may be leveraged to mitigate the manipulation of engineering data, as well as design and run-time aspects of secure complex cyber-physical systems. The book is intended for several target groups: it enables computer scientists to identify research issues related to the development of new methods, architectures, and technologies for improving quality and security in multi-disciplinary engineering, pushing forward the current state of the art. It also allows researchers involved in the engineering of C-CPS to gain a better understanding of the challenges and requirements of multi-disciplinary engineering that will guide them in their future research and development activities. Lastly, it offers practicing engineers and managers with engineering backgrounds insights into the benefits and limitations of applicable methods, architectures, and technologies for selected use cases.

Electric Motors and Drives: Fundamentals, Types and Applications, Fifth Edition is intended primarily for non-specialist users or students of electric motors and drives, but many researchers and specialist industrialists have also acknowledged its value in providing a clear understanding of the fundamentals. It bridges the gap between specialist textbooks (too analytical for the average user) and handbooks (full of detail but with little insight) providing an understanding of how each motor and drive system works. The fifth edition has been completely revised, updated and expanded. All of the most important types of motor and drive are covered, including d.c., induction, synchronous (including synchronous reluctance and salient Permanent Magnet), switched reluctance, and stepping. There has been significant innovation in this area since the fourth edition, particularly in the automotive, aircraft and industrial sectors, with novel motor topologies emerging, including hybrid designs that combine permanent magnet and reluctance effects. We now include a physical basis for understanding and quantifying torque production in these machines, and this leads to simple pictures that illuminate the control conditions required to optimise torque. The key converter topologies have been brought together, and the treatment of inverter switching strategies expanded. A new chapter is devoted to the treatment of Field Oriented control, reflecting its increasing importance for all a.c. motor drives. A unique physically-based approach is adopted which builds naturally on the understanding of motor behaviour developed earlier in the book: the largely non-mathematical treatment dispels much of the mystique surrounding what is often regarded as a difficult topic.

This thesis proposes a new raft-type wave-powered desalination device that can convert wave power into hydraulic energy and use reverse osmosis (RO) to directly desalinate seawater. Both analytical and numerical methods are used to study the hydrodynamic characteristics of the device. Further, the thesis investigates the maximum power extraction and multiple parameter effects on power absorption and averaged permeate water flux. Lastly, it proposes and assesses two power extraction enhancing strategies. The thesis offers a valuable and important reference guide to ocean-wave-and-structure interaction and wave-powered seawater desalination for scientists and engineers alike.

Although conventional cogeneration systems have been used successfully in the last two decades, most of them have been large units using mainly hydrocarbon fuels that are becoming increasingly expensive. New cogeneration systems based on fuel cells and sorption air conditioning systems promise to be an energy-saving alternative for situations when cooling, heating and power are needed at low and medium capacities. Cogeneration Fuel Cell-Sorption Air Conditioning Systems examines the thermodynamic principles of fuel cell performance and sorption air conditioning systems, and gives relevant information about the state of the art of these technologies. It also provides the reader with the theoretical bases and knowledge needed to understand the operation of these new cogeneration systems, as well as discussing the design basis and economical evaluation. Topics covered include: * selected fuel cells for cogeneration CHP processes; * state-of-the-art sorption refrigeration systems; * potential applications in demonstration projects; and * profitability assessment of the cogeneration system. Air conditioning and fuel cell engineers; postgraduates and researchers in energy fields; and designers of cooling, heating and power cogeneration systems will find Cogeneration Fuel Cell-Sorption Air Conditioning Systems a useful and informative reference.

The storage of electroenergy is an essential feature of modem energy technologies. Unfortunately, no economical and technically feasible method for the solution of this severe problem is presently available. But electrochemistry is a favourite candidate from an engineering point of view. It promises the highest energy densities of all possible alternatives. If this is true, there will be a proportionality between the amount of electricity to be stored and the possible voltage, together with the mass of materials which make this storage possible. Insofar it is a matter of material science to develop adequate systems. Electricity is by far the most important secondary energy source. The present production rate, mainly in the thermal electric power stations, is in the order of 1.3 TW. Rechargeable batteries (RB) are of widespread use in practice for electroenergy storage and supply. The total capacity of primary and rechargeable batteries being exploited is the same as that of the world electric power stations. However, the important goal in the light of modem energy technology, namely the economical storage of large amounts of electricity for electric vehicles, electric route transport, load levelling, solar energy utilization, civil video & audio devices, earth and spatial communications, etc. will not be met by the presently available systems. Unless some of the new emerging electrochemical systems are established up to date, RB's based on aqueous acidic or alkali accumulators are mainly produced today.

Recent Developments of Electrical Drives is composed of the papers which were presented at the XVI International Conference on Electrical Machines - ICEMa (TM)2004, which was held in Cracow, Poland on September 5-8, 2004.

The contributions selected for the book cover a wide spectrum of theory and practice, thus they are deeply rooted in engineering problems, being simultaneously of high theoretical level. This way the contents of the book is believed to touch the heart of the matter in electrical drives (theory, control systems and applications).

The book, stating the recent developments of electrical drives, can be useful for engineers and researchers investigating and designing electrical and electronic devices as well as for students and young researchers dealing with electrical and electronic engineering, computer sciences (advanced computer modelling, sophisticated control systems with artificial intelligence tools applied, optimal design bye use of classical and genetic algorithms employed), applied mathematics and all the topics where electromagnetic, thermal, mechanical phenomena occur.

Recent Developments of Electrical Drives covers a wide range of interest of industry engineers, and scientists involved in modelling, control, measurements, new motor structures design, and could be also useful for engineers working in the field of electrical drives implementation.

A COMPREHENSIVE REFERENCE TO THE MOST RECENT ADVANCEMENTS IN OFFSHORE WIND TECHNOLOGY Offshore Wind Energy Technology offers a reference based on the research material developed by the acclaimed Norwegian Research Centre for Offshore Wind Technology (NOWITECH) and material developed by the expert authors over the last 20 years. This comprehensive text covers critical topics such as wind energy conversion systems technology, control systems, grid connection and system integration, and novel structures including bottom-fixed and floating. The text also reviews the most current operation and maintenance strategies as well as technologies and design tools for novel offshore wind energy concepts. The text contains a wealth of mathematical derivations, tables, graphs, worked examples, and illustrative case studies. Authoritative and accessible, Offshore Wind Energy Technology: Contains coverage of electricity markets for offshore wind energy and then discusses the challenges posed by the cost and limited opportunities Discusses novel offshore wind turbine structures and floaters Features an analysis of the stochastic dynamics of offshore/marine structures Describes the logistics of planning, designing, building, and connecting an offshore wind farm Written for students and professionals in the field, Offshore Wind Energy Technology is a definitive resource that reviews all facets of offshore wind energy technology and grid connection.

Silicon on Insulator is more than a technology, more than a job, and more than a venture in microelectronics; it is something different and refreshing in device physics. This book recalls the activity and enthu siasm of our SOl groups. Many contributing students have since then disappeared from the SOl horizon. Some of them believed that SOl was the great love of their scientific lives; others just considered SOl as a fantastic LEGO game for adults. We thank them all for kindly letting us imagine that we were guiding them. This book was very necessary to many people. SOl engineers will certainly be happy: indeed, if the performance of their SOl components is not always outstanding, they can now safely incriminate the relations given in the book rather than their process. Martine, Gunter, and Y. S. Chang can contemplate at last the amount of work they did with the figures. Our SOl accomplices already know how much we borrowed from their expertise and would find it indecent to have their detailed contri butions listed. Jean-Pierre and Dimitris incited the book, while sharing their experience in the reliability of floating bodies. Our families and friends now realize the SOl capability of dielectrically isolating us for about two years in a BOX. Our kids encouraged us to start writing. Our wives definitely gave us the courage to stop writing. They had a hard time fighting the symptoms of a rapidly developing SOl allergy."

Over the past decade the topic of energy and environment has been ackno- edged among many people as a critical issue to be solved in 21st century since the Kyoto Protocol came into e?ect in 1997. Its political recognition was put forward especially at Heiligendamm in 2007, when the e?ect of carbon dioxide emission and its hazard in global climate were discussed and shared univ- sallyascommonknowledge.Controllingtheglobalwarmingintheeconomical framework of massive development worldwide through this new century is a very challenging problem not only among political, economical, or social c- cles but also among technological or scienti?c communities. As long as the humans depend on the combustion of fossil for energy resources, the waste heat exhaustion and CO emission are inevitable. 2 In order to establish a new era of energy saving and environment benign society, which is supported by technologies and with social consensus, it is important to seek for a framework where new clean energy system is inc- porated as infrastructure for industry and human activities. Such a society strongly needs innovative technologies of least CO emission and e?cient en- 2 ergy conversion and utilization from remaining fossil energies on the Earth. Energy recycling system utilizing natural renewable energies and their c- version to hydrogen may be the most desirable option of future clean energy society. Thus the society should strive to change its energy basis, from foss- consuming energy to clean and recycling energy.

Foreword by Dieter Jungnickel
Finite Commutative Rings and their Applications answers a need for an introductory reference in finite commutative ring theory as applied to information and communication theory. This book will be of interest to both professional and academic researchers in the fields of communication and coding theory.

The book is a concrete and self-contained introduction to finite commutative local rings, focusing in particular on Galois and Quasi-Galois rings. The reader is provided with an active and concrete approach to the study of the purely algebraic structure and properties of finite commutative rings (in particular, Galois rings) as well as to their applications to coding theory.

Finite Commutative Rings and their Applications is the first to address both theoretical and practical aspects of finite ring theory. The authors provide a practical approach to finite rings through explanatory examples, thereby avoiding an abstract presentation of the subject. The section on Quasi-Galois rings presents new and unpublished results as well. The authors then introduce some applications of finite rings, in particular Galois rings, to coding theory, using a solid algebraic and geometric theoretical background.

This text is suitable for courses in commutative algebra, finite commutative algebra, and coding theory. It is also suitable as a supplementary text for courses in discrete mathematics, finite fields, finite rings, etc.

Smart distribution networks are one of the key research topics of countries looking to modernise electric power networks. Smart Electricity Distributions Networks aims to provide a basic discussion of the smart distribution concept and new technologies related to it, including distributed energy resources (DERs), demand side integration, microgrids, CELL and virtual power plants. With writing from leading contributors in the field of smart distribution networks, this volume discusses different concepts within the field as well as the best methods to analyse smart distribution systems to provide a cohesive overview of issues relating to Smart Grid and related technologies. This book will be valuable to those with an interest in understanding the technologies and performance of smart distribution networks as well as engaging with the wider debate over the future Smart Grid.

This book presents revealing case studies on carbon footprint calculation and mitigation in various industrial sectors. There are numerous sectors whose carbon footprints need to be calculated, and effective ways to mitigate the greenhouse-gas emissions from these sectors need to be found. Using representative case studies, this book highlights the carbon footprint of national power generation systems, crude glycerol production plants and the Brazilian highway network system, as well as the integration of renewable energy sources in expansion planning, so as to promote and implement power system decarbonization.