X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) is a well-established analytical technique for qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis of a wide variety of materials. It is known for its rapid speed and ease of use. All levels of professionals in materials science, analytic chemistry, and physics will benefit from the review of basic and newly developed technologies presented in this book. Highlights include: A basic introduction to XRF, including background on X-ray physics. Coverage of qualitative and quantitative analysis using XRF. Coverage of the design of low-power micro-focus tubes and novel X-ray optics and detectors. Benchtop and portable instrumentation that offer extreme simplicity of operation in a low-cost design. Extensive bibliographic references. Buyers Guide.

The book systematically introduces smart power system design and its infrastructure, platform and operating standards. It focuses on multi-objective optimization and illustrates where the intelligence of the system lies. With abundant project data, this book is a practical guideline for engineers and researchers in electrical engineering, as well as power network designers and managers in administration.

A study of the architectures of the systems that provide telephone service, including a look at architectures for future systems. It describes the hardware and software of five different systems in detail, offering communications professionals the information they need to understand switching systems in historical context and in relation to regulatory frameworks. The book also examines how factors such as customer services and modern computer applications have affected switching systems, and it provides background discussions on relevant theory and boundary conditions - such as transmission systems, telephone operation, and the human element.

Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) involve substituting machines capable of performing a wide and redefinable variety of tasks for machines dedicated to the performance of specific tasks. FMS can also be programmed to handle new products, thus extending the machines' life cycles. Thus they represent a change from "standardized goods produced by customized machines" to "customized goods produced by standardized machines." This volume contains new and updated material in this field, and will be of great interest to researchers, managers and students concerned with problems related to flexible manufacturing systems.

Energy Global energy demand has more than doubled since 1970. The use of energy is strongly related to almost every conceivable aspect of development: wealth, health, nutrition, water, infrastructure, education and even life expectancy itself are strongly and significantly related to the consumption of energy per capita. Many development indicators are strongly related to per-capita energy consumption. Fossil fuel is the most conventional source of energy but also increases greenhouse gas emissions. The economic development of many countries has come at the cost of the environment. However, it should not be presumed that a reconciliation of the two is not possible. The nexus concept is the interconnection between the resource energy, water, food, land, and climate. Such interconnections enable us to address trade-offs and seek synergies among them. Energy, water, food, land, and climate are essential resources of our natural environment and support our quality of life. Competition between these resources is increasing globally and is exacerbated by climate change. Improving resilience and securing resource availability would require improving resource efficiency. Many policies and programs are announced nationally and internationally for replacing the conventional mode and also emphasizing on conservation of fossil fuels and reuse of exhausted energy, so a gap in implications and outcomes can be broadly traced by comparing the data. This book aims to highlight problems and solutions related to conventional energy utilization, formation, and multitudes of ecological impacts and tools for the conservation of fossil fuels. The book also discusses modern energy services as one of the sustainable development goals and how the pressure on resource energy disturbs the natural flows. The recent advances in alternative energy sources and their possible future growth are discussed and on how conventional energy leads to greenhouse gas formation, which reduces energy use efficiency. The different policies and models operating is also addressed, and the gaps that remained between them. Climate change poses a challenge for renewable energy, and thus it is essential to identify the factors that would reduce the possibility of relying on sustainable energy sources. This book will be of interest to researchers and stakeholders, students, industries, NGOs, and governmental agencies directly or indirectly associated with energy research.

The expansion of the digital age continues to bring new mobile devices, technologies and methods that are introduced every day. Though commonly used, the technologies of these devices remain unfamiliar to users due to the complicated and fast-evolving disciplines. Mobile and Handheld Computing Solutions for Organizations and End-Users discusses a broad range of topics in order to advance handheld knowledge and apply the proposed methods to real-world issues for organisations and end users. This book brings together researchers and practitioners involved with mobile and handheld computing solutions useful for IT students, researchers, and scholars.

Iris recognition technologies for identity management are already deployed globally in several large-scale nationwide biometric projects and are currently entering the mobile market. More recently, periocular recognition has been employed to augment the biometric performance of the iris in unconstrained environments where only the ocular region is present in the image. Iris and Periocular Biometric Recognition provides an overview of scientific fundamentals and principles of iris and periocular biometric recognition over six broad areas: an introduction to iris and periocular recognition; a selective overview of issues and challenges; soft biometric classification; security aspects; privacy protection and forensics; and future trends. With contributions from experts in industry and academia, this book is essential reading for researchers, graduate students and practitioners in biometrics and related fields.

Countries at different points of development are affected differently by shifts in the ability to access information. These changes require the action of governments to cope in order to preserve accountability and information access. The progression of these changes could vary between countries based on the level of development. Digital Transformation and Its Role in Progressing the Relationship Between States and Their Citizens is a cutting-edge research publication that examines the relationship between government and citizens especially regarding accountability, communication, and access to information. Featuring a wide range of topics such as electoral reform, free speech, and citizen empowerment, this book is ideal for policymakers, researchers, legal professionals, activists, government employees, and academicians.

This book is based on the 18 presentations during the 21st workshop on Advances in Analog Circuit Design. Expert designers provide readers with information about a variety of topics at the frontier of analog circuit design, including Nyquist analog-to-digital converters, capacitive sensor interfaces, reliability, variability, and connectivity. This book serves as a valuable reference to the state-of-the-art, for anyone involved in analog circuit research and development. "

The ever-evolving wireless technology industry is demanding new technologies and standards to ensure a higher quality of experience for global end-users. This developing challenge has enabled researchers to identify the present trend of machine learning as a possible solution, but will it meet business velocity demand? Next-Generation Wireless Networks Meet Advanced Machine Learning Applications is a pivotal reference source that provides emerging trends and insights into various technologies of next-generation wireless networks to enable the dynamic optimization of system configuration and applications within the fields of wireless networks, broadband networks, and wireless communication. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as machine learning, hybrid network environments, wireless communications, and the internet of things; this publication is ideally designed for industry experts, researchers, students, academicians, and practitioners seeking current research on various technologies of next-generation wireless networks.

"Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics "merges two long-running serials--"Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics" and "Advances in Optical and Electron Microscopy."
This series features extended articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.
* Contributions from leading international scholars and industry experts
* Discusses hot topic areas and presents current and future research trends
* Invaluable reference and guide for physicists, engineers and mathematicians