Introduction to Communication Studies is an introductory textbook on the theories of and approaches to communication studies for first -year students. It reflects the dynamic evolution of communication studies in the recent past, introducing new insights and approaches to communication media and digital communication.

Acknowledging the unique requirements of the African communication environment, the text is illuminated with a range of uniquely South and southern African examples to contextualise the theory, with chapters written by leading academic authors from East and Southern Africa.

This book is a simple and didactic account of the developments and practical applications of predictive, adaptive predictive, and optimized adaptive control from a perspective of stability, including the latest methodology of adaptive predictive expert (ADEX) control. ADEX Optimized Adaptive Control Systems is divided into six parts, with exercises and real-time simulations provided for the reader as appropriate. The text begins with the conceptual and intuitive knowledge of the technology and derives the stability conditions to be verified by the driver block and the adaptive mechanism of the optimized adaptive controller to guaranty the desired control performance. The second and third parts present strategic considerations of predictive control and related adaptive systems necessary for the proper design of driver block and adaptive mechanism and thence their technical realization. The authors then proceed to detail the stability theory that supports predictive, adaptive predictive and optimized adaptive control methodologies. Benchmark applications of these methodologies (distillation column and pulp-factory bleaching plant) are treated next with a focus on practical implementation issues. The final part of the book describes ADEX platforms and illustrates their use in the design and implementation of optimized adaptive control systems to three different challenging-to-control industrial processes: * waste-water treatment;* sulfur recovery; and* temperature control of superheated steam in coal-fired power generation. The presentation is completed by a number of appendices containing technical background associated with the main text including a manual for the ADEX COP platform developed by the first author to exploit the capabilities of adaptive predictive control in real plants. ADEX Optimized Adaptive Control Systems provides practicing process control engineers with a multivariable optimal control solution which is adaptive and resistant to perturbation and the effects of noise. Its pedagogical features also facilitate its use as a teaching tool for formal university and Internet-based open-education-type graduate courses in practical optimal adaptive control and for self-study.

This book covers emerging trends in signal processing research and biomedical engineering, exploring the ways in which signal processing plays a vital role in applications ranging from medical electronics to data mining of electronic medical records. Topics covered include statistical modeling of electroencephalograph data for predicting or detecting seizure, stroke, or Parkinson's; machine learning methods and their application to biomedical problems, which is often poorly understood, even within the scientific community; signal analysis; medical imaging; and machine learning, data mining, and classification. The book features tutorials and examples of successful applications that will appeal to a wide range of professionals and researchers interested in applications of signal processing, medicine, and biology.

Net Zero-Energy Buildings have been the object of numerous studies in recent years as various countries have set this performance level as a long-term goal of their energy policies. This book presents a unique study of 30 NZEBs that have been constructed and have had their performance measured for at least 12 months. The study is based upon an international collaborative research initiated by the International Energy Agency - the Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (SHC). It is the first book to evaluate building strategies in houses, educational buildings and offices that have been demonstrated to work in practice. It examines how the design challenges of climate and building type have been addressed, and to what extent the various design approaches have been successful. This book presents convincing evidence that a careful re-thinking of conventional design norms can achieve a far greater performance benefit than is normally feasible. It identifies 'solution sets? that work at the whole building level and at the individual building design challenge level for each climate and building type. In doing so, the book provides guidance as to how to improve the design by learning from these cases. Unusually for a book of this type it has examples of buildings in what are conventionally labeled "hot" and "cold" climates. A simple process is proposed for the reader to commission the analysis of their own climate to assess not only the conventional measure of how hot or cold or humid it is, but also to assess its suitability to support other NZEB technical challenge solutions sets such as Daylight or Natural Ventilation or comfort based climate conditioning.

An accessible overview of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and the impact it is set to have on various sectors in South Africa and Africa. It explores the previous industrial revolutions that have led up to this point and outlines what South Africa’s position has been through each one.

With a focus on artificial intelligence as a core concept in understanding the 4IR, this book uses familiar concepts to explain artificial intelligence, how it works and how it can be used in banking, mining, medicine and many other fields.

Written from an African perspective, Closing the Gap addresses the challenges and fears around the 4IR by pointing to the opportunities presented by new technologies and outlining some of the challenges and successes to date.

Build 11 awesome LEGO (R) machines! With 58 LEGO (R) elements. This activity kit will have you building 11 machines that whirl, flip, punch and cruise! Including: a gravity-powered car, a boxing robot, a claw, a catapult, a spin-o-vision, a ghost mobile car, a rollin' T-Rex, a whirling fan, a mixing machine, a micro movie maker and a gravity-drop coaster. Make, experiment and play with KLUTZ . What is Klutz? Klutz is a premium brand of book-based activity kits, designed to inspire creativity in every child. Our unique combination of crystal-clear instructions, custom tools and materials, and hearty helpings of humor is 100% guaranteed to kick-start creativity. Super-clear instructions Open-ended Creativity Rewarding Reading Skills to Build On Everything You Need

MBusiness: The Strategic Implications of Mobile Communications presents recent theory and evidence on wireless information technologies and their application in business. Such information is useful in both the classroom and for interested practitioners contemplating new technological developments.

MBusiness is a very fast moving area and consequently there is a need to provide relevant material for those who wish to understand the subject. This text provides recent teachings, moving beyond existing wireless technology publications, and differentiates itself strongly via its emphasis on the strategic business application of mobile communications. It stands apart by virtue of the degree of academic rigour with which it tackles the material and is an excellent resource for teaching and learning in the classroom.
A comprehensive resource on wireless technologies
Contains case study examples to support the information in the text
Includes end of chapter references to enable further investigation

Discover nontraditional applications of dielectric studies in this exceptionally crafted field reference or text for seniors and graduate students in power engineering tracks. This text contains more than 800 display equations and discusses polarization phenomena in dielectrics, the complex dielectric constant in an alternating electric field, dielectric relaxation and interfacial polarization, the measurement of absorption and desorption currents in time domains, and high field conduction phenomena. Dielectrics in Electric Fields is an interdisciplinary reference and text for professionals and students in electrical and electronics, chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering; physical, surface, and colloid chemistry; materials science; and chemical physics.

Telemetering systems and applications have moved far beyond the space flight telemetry most people have heard of to cutting-edge uses across a broad range of disciplines, including industry, medicine, and meteorology. To fully understand and participate in the acquisition of data this technology makes possible, scientists in these fields along with engineers new to telemetering require some background in the concepts, hardware, and software that makes the technology so valuable.

Introduction to PCM Telemetering Systems, Second Edition summarizes the techniques and terminology used in sending data and control information between users and the instruments that collect and process the data. It gives an overall systems introduction to the relevant topics in three primary areas: system interfaces; data transport, timing, and synchronization; and data transmission techniques. The topics addressed include sensor characteristics, user interface design, data filtering, data framing, statistical analysis, telemetry standards, time code standards, modulation techniques, and radio propagation. To reinforce understanding, each chapter includes exercises.

Rather than focusing on design specifics, which can change so rapidly with evolving technologies, the author centers his discussions on concepts and standards. This edition incorporates the latest standards, LabVIEW-based examples of telemetry and command processing, and simulations using multiSim and Commsim.

The use of lasers for various applications in materials processing has grown rapidly in recent years. Lasers are by nature particularly well suited to automation, but to ensure repeatability and reliability, the engineers employing them must not simply rely on numerical analysis software. They must have a firm grasp on the physical principles involved.

Mathematics of Thermal Modelling: An Introduction to the Theory of Laser Material Processing introduces the mathematics needed to formulate and exploit the physical principles important to modelling various aspects of laser material processing. The author shows how to gain insight by constructing and analyzing simple models. He demonstrates how to extract qualitative information from the models, how the underlying principles can be extended to more complex modelling, and how these principles can be applied to processes such as laser welding, surface treatment, drilling, and cutting.

Written at a level accessible to graduate students, this book shows that simple mathematical investigation-- based primarily on analytical methods backed by relatively simple numerical methods--can greatly illuminate the processes being studied. Regardless of the stage of your career development, if you are confronting the modelling of thermal process in this field for the first time, Mathematics of Thermal Modelling will build the foundation you need.

How will artificial intelligence change our world within twenty years?

AI will be the defining development of the twenty-first century. Within two decades, aspects of daily human life will be unrecognizable. AI will generate unprecedented wealth, revolutionize medicine and education through human-machine symbiosis, and create brand new forms of communication and entertainment. However, AI will also challenge the organizing principles of our economic and social order and bring new risks in the form of autonomous weapons and smart technology that inherits human bias. AI is at a tipping point, and people need to wake up-both to AI's radiant pathways and its existential perils for life as we know it.

In this provocative, utterly original work of "scientific fiction," Kai-Fu Lee, the former president of Google China and bestselling author of AI Superpowers, joins forces with celebrated novelist Chen Qiufan to imagine our AI world in 2041 in ten gripping short stories.

Gazing toward a not-so-distant horizon, AI 2041 offers urgent insights into our collective future and reminds us that we are the authors of our own destiny.

Includes coverage of iPhones 12, 11, X, SE, 8, 7, and 6! When you're looking for the most up-to-date information on your iPhone, look no further than this edition of iPhone For Seniors For Dummies. It's fully updated to cover iOS 14, the software released in Fall of 2020 that runs all iPhones dating back to the iPhone 6. It doesn't matter if you have a brand new iPhone 12 or are sticking with the iPhone you've had for a few years. This book will help you navigate your device. Written especially for iPhone owners who don't need to know every detail of how their phone works, iPhone For Seniors For Dummies sticks to clear, friendly, step-by-step information on the essentials you'll use every day. It covers the basics of messaging with friends and family, using your iPhone as a web browser, watching television shows or movies, and taking and sharing photos and videos. Get to know which iPhone you own Upgrade to iOS 14 Add contacts to your Favorites list Connect your iPhone to wifi Track your well-being with the Health app Fix common problems when they occur When you're ready to build your skills and become the go-to iPhone guru for your friends, iPhone For Seniors For Dummies offers the insight you need to increase your know-how.

While most texts focus on how and why electric circuits work, The Analysis and Design of Linear Circuits taps into engineering students' desire to explore, create, and put their learning into practice. Students from across disciplines will gain a practical, in-depth understanding of the fundamental principles underlying so much of modern, everyday technology. Early focus on the analysis, design, and evaluation of electric circuits promotes the development of design intuition by allowing students to test their designs in the context of real-world constraints and practical situations. This updated Ninth Edition features an emphasis on the use of computer software, including Excel, MATLAB, and Multisim, building a real-world problem-solving style that reflects that of practicing engineers. Software skills are integrated with examples and exercises throughout the text, and coverage of circuit design and evaluation, frequency response, mutual inductance, ac power circuits, and other central topics has been revised for clarity and ease of understanding. With an overarching goal of instilling smart judgement surrounding design problems and innovative solutions, this unique text provides inspiration and motivation alongside an essential knowledge base.

Electrical and computer engineers need to understand the most current technologies in the field. In order to provide the latest information, the sixth edition presents a new chapter that explores the principles of digital data transmission without the complicating factor of performance in noise. It exposes readers to digital data transmission techniques earlier in the book so that they can appreciate the characteristics of digital communication systems before learning about probability and stochastic processes. They'll also find expanded forward error correction code examples and new MATLAB problems. Electrical and computer engineers will benefit from this completely up-to-date resource.

In-depth overview of two-dimensional semiconductors from theoretical studies, properties to emerging applications! Two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted enormous attention due to their exotic properties deriving from their ultrathin dimensions. 2D materials, such as graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, transition metal oxides, black phosphorus and boron nitride, exhibit versatile optical, electronic, catalytic and mechanical properties, thus can be used in a wide range of applications, including electronics, optoelectronics and optical applications. Two-Dimensional Semiconductors: Synthesis, Physical Properties and Applications provides an in-depth view of 2D semiconductors from theoretical studies, properties to applications, taking into account the current state of research and development. It introduces various preparation methods and describes in detail the physical properties of 2D semiconductors including 2D alloys and heterostructures. The covered applications include, but are not limited to, field-effect transistors, spintronics, solar cells, photodetectors, light-emitting diode, sensors and bioelectronics. * Highly topical: 2D materials are a rapidly advancing field that attracts increasing attention * Concise overview: covers theoretical studies, preparation methods, physical properties, potential applications, the challenges and opportunities * Application oriented: focuses on 2D semiconductors that can be used in various applications such as field-effect transistors, solar cells, sensors and bioelectronics * Highly relevant: newcomers as well as experienced researchers in the field of 2D materials will benefit from this book Two-Dimensional Semiconductors: Synthesis, Physical Properties and Applications is written for materials scientists, semiconductor and solid state physicists, electrical engineers, and readers working in the semiconductor industry.

Elastomeric optics exploit light transparent, variable translucent, and reflective stretchable polymers to create novel strain-tunable optical elements and flexible multifunctional optical sheets. Optical sheets are thin, large-area polymer light guide structures that can be used to create a wide variety of passive light harvesting and illumination systems. The book introduces the theoretical principles of elastomeric optics and explores how simple and complex mechanically deformable optical devices can be designed and fabricated. The transmission of light through these optical components or waveguides depends on the selected materials, surface interface, geometric design, optical coupling of embedded micro-structures, and degree of device deformation. In addition to providing a technical foundation for building adaptable optics, the book seeks to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers to develop innovative solutions far beyond anything imagined today.

"Perovskite-Based Solar Cells: From Fundamentals to Tandem Devices" gives fundamental understanding of perovskite solar cells from the chemical composition of each thin layer composing the different stacks to the whole device. Special attention has been given to the development of the materials forming the perovskite solar cell and their effect on the device performance, in addition to the recent progress of this emerging technology. Moreover, light has been shed on the perovskite elaboration techniques, in addition to the several techniques proposed to improve both the efficiency and the stability of perovskite solar cells. Furthermore, special emphasis was given to the three types of tandem solar cells and their recent advances starting from Perovskite/perovskite tandem solar cells to Perovskite/ CIGS tandem cells to perovskite/ heterojunction silicon tandem solar cells. The latter constitute a promising solution to improve photovoltaic solar cells performance.

Artificial intelligence is smarter than humans. It can process information at lightning speed and remain focused on specific tasks without distraction. AI can see into the future, predict outcomes and even use sensors to see around physical and virtual corners. So why does AI frequently get it so wrong and cause harm?

The answer is us: the human beings who write the code and teach AI to mimic our behaviour. Scary Smart explains how to fix the current trajectory now, to make sure that the AI of the future can preserve our species. This book offers a blueprint, pointing the way to what we can do to safeguard ourselves, those we love and the planet itself.

The book focuses on the development of high performance, high efficiency electroactive polymers (EAPs), and electromechanically active polymers by controlling molecular chemical structure and morphology for all applications. This book is ideal for academicians and researchers in polymer and materials science.