Articulates a series of scientific and technological developments described in a didactic way Shows a broad view of biometrics in several contexts: Current cases of study in five different areas Provides experimental results in different environments (availability of data and computer code to reproduce the experiments) Includes transdisciplinary approaches and discussions for each chapter Innovation as part of the final cases of study: developments are already affecting the new businesses of the digital age and the era of the brain

The 20th century is known to the entire world as a century of American greatness. Innovations in energy drove that American superiority; innovations such as oil pipelines, petroleum-based fuel, the light bulb, electricity, and the power grid. However, our legacy energy economy leaves us wanting in the 21st century. Centralized vulnerability, wasted generation capacity, dependence on foreign fuel, and climate change are financed by every one of us at the pump and in our monthly utility bill. However, "Energy Freedom" is not about what is wrong with our current energy economy; rather it describes a bright future that is waiting to be unlocked. It presents a plan where the average homeowner can not only achieve Energy Freedom for their household, but usher in the new energy economy.

Since the invention of computers or machines, scientists and researchers are trying very hard to enhance their capabilities to perform various tasks. As a consequence, the capabilities of computers are growing exponentially day by day in terms of diverse working domains, versatile jobs, processing speed, and reduced size. Now, we are in the race to make the computers or machines as intelligent as human beings. Artificial Intelligence (AI) came up as a way of making a computer or computer software think in the similar manner the intelligent humans think. AI is inspired by the study of human brain like how humans think, learn, decide and act while trying to solve a problem. The outcomes of this study are the basis of developing intelligent software and systems or Intelligent Computing (IC). An IC system has the capability of reasoning, learning, problem solving, perception, and linguistic intelligence. The IC systems consist of AI techniques as well as other emerging techniques that make a system intelligent. The use of intelligent computing has been seen in almost every sub-domain of computer science such as networking, software engineering, gaming, natural language processing, computer vision, image processing, data science, robotics, expert systems, and security. Now a days, the use of IC can also be seen for solving various complex problems in diverse domains such as for predicting disease in medical science, predicting land fertility or crop productivity in agriculture science, predicting market growth in economics, weather forecasting and so on. For all these reasons, this book presents the advances in AI techniques, under the umbrella of IC. In this context, the book includes the recent research works have been done in the areas of machine learning, neural networks, deep learning, evolutionary algorithms, genetic algorithms, swarm intelligence, fuzzy systems and so on. This book provides theoretical, algorithmic, simulation, and implementation-based recent research advancements related to the Intelligent Computing.

This book explores how to use generative adversarial networks in a variety of applications and emphasises their substantial advancements over traditional generative models. This book's major goal is to concentrate on cutting-edge research in deep learning and generative adversarial networks, which includes creating new tools and methods for processing text, images, and audio. A Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) is a class of machine learning framework and is the next emerging network in deep learning applications. Generative Adversarial Networks(GANs) have the feasibility to build improved models, as they can generate the sample data as per application requirements. There are various applications of GAN in science and technology, including computer vision, security, multimedia and advertisements, image generation, image translation,text-to-images synthesis, video synthesis, generating high-resolution images, drug discovery, etc. Features: Presents a comprehensive guide on how to use GAN for images and videos. Includes case studies of Underwater Image Enhancement Using Generative Adversarial Network, Intrusion detection using GAN Highlights the inclusion of gaming effects using deep learning methods Examines the significant technological advancements in GAN and its real-world application. Discusses as GAN challenges and optimal solutions The book addresses scientific aspects for a wider audience such as junior and senior engineering, undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers, and anyone interested in the trends development and opportunities in GAN and Deep Learning. The material in the book can serve as a reference in libraries, accreditation agencies, government agencies, and especially the academic institution of higher education intending to launch or reform their engineering curriculum

The replacement of fossil-derived compounds by bio-based fuels and chemicals is crucial for the implementation of a sustainable bioeconomy. In this context, microorganisms are key players for biofuels' production from renewable sources. Biotechnological biofuel production processes require conversion microorganisms capable of both efficiently assimilating renewable low-cost carbon sources and diverting their metabolisms towards the specific biofuel. Exploring the wide diversity of microorganisms available on Earth will surely aid to make the production of green fuels a reality. This book gives a wide overview of different microbial-based processes for green fuels production. The book also includes techno-economic analysis and highlights strategic, commercial and environmental interests in promoting green fuels. All these facts make this book very valuable not only for the scientific community but also for biofuel companies and policy makers.

This new book, Advances in Energy Materials and Environment Engineering, covers the timely issue of green applications of materials. It covers the diverse usages of carbon nanotubes for energy, for power, for the protection of the environment, and for new energy applications. The diverse topics in the volume include energy saving technologies, renewable energy, clean energy development, nuclear engineering and hydrogen energy, advanced power semiconductors, power systems and energy and much more. This timely book addresses the need of the hour and will prove to be valuable for environmentally conscious industry professionals, faculty and students, and researchers in materials science, engineering, and environment with interest in energy materials.

Blockchain technology has been penetrating every aspect of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and its use has been growing rapidly in recent years. The interest and development of this technology has primarily been driven by the enormous value growth of cryptocurrencies and large investments of venture capital in blockchain start-ups. Blockchain for Smart Systems: Computing Technologies and Applications is intended to clarify and define, in simple terms, the technology behind blockchain. It provides a deep dive into the core fundamentals of blockchain: hashing algorithm behind each block, distributed technology, smart contracts, and private vs. public blockchain. Features Discusses fundamental theories of practical and sophisticated applications of blockchain technology Includes case studies Discusses the concepts with illustrations, appropriate figures, tables, and simple language This book is primarily aimed at undergraduates, graduates, research scholars, academicians, and industry and technology enthusiasts working in various aspects of blockchain technology.

Artificial Intelligence in Information and Communication Technologies, Healthcare and Education: A Roadmap Ahead is designed as a reference text and discusses inter-dependability, communication and effective control for the betterment of services through artificial intelligence (AI), as well as the challenges and path ahead for AI in computing and control across different domains of business and human life. The book accommodates technologies and application domains including backbone hardware, systems and methods for deployment, which help incorporating intelligence through different supervised and probabilistic learning approaches. Features The book attempts to establish a connection between hardware, software technologies and algorithmic intelligence for data analysis and decision support in domains such as healthcare, education and other aspects of business and mobility. It presents various recent applications of artificial intelligence in information and communication technologies such as search and optimization methods, machine learning, data representation and ontologies, and multi-agent systems. The book provides a collection of different case studies with experimentation results than mere theoretical and generalized approaches. Covers most of the applications using the trending technologies like machine learning (ML), data science (DS), Internet of Things (IoT), and underlying information and communication technologies. The book is aimed primarily at advanced undergraduates and postgraduate students studying computer science, computer applications, and information technology. Researchers and professionals will also find this book useful.

"The book provides vital insights into commercial development for engineering students in a highly practical and applied manner. Over the past 3 years, application of the book s material has allowed the students to develop their commercial literacy and ambition in the University." Steve Orr, Director, Northern Ireland Science Park CONNECT program which looks to accelerate the growth of knowledge-based companies in Northern Ireland Engineering Innovative Products: A Practical Experience is a pioneering book that will be of key use to senior undergraduate and graduate engineering students who are being encouraged to explore innovation and commercialization as part of their courses. The book will teach the essential skills of entrepreneurship and address the fundamental requirements needed to establish a successful technology company. As well as providing the crucial background and insights enabling students to identify a key market, it also offers a highly practical guide to undertaking genuine product validation and producing a feasibility study, as well as providing vital insights into the challenges and demands in forming a technology based company. Key features: * Outlines how to develop and grow an engineering solution which has market potential and covers key business aspects of giving the perfect pitch, sales and marketing, protection of ideas and finance, to offer a complete and practical guide to commercializing ideas. * Provides vital insight into the design and innovation processes within engineering and the challenges and pitfalls in translating good ideas into great products. * Features contributions from leading experts in marketing, finance, company formation, sales and intellectual protection which provides details of the challenges faced by innovators when commercializing ideas. * Includes Ccase studies from engineering students who give insights into how they have successfully developed their own ideas into companies.

- First book to focus on deep learning-based approaches in the field of cancer diagnostics. - Covers the state of the art across a wide-range of topics. - Topics include preprocessing data, prediction of cancer susceptibility and reoccurence, detection of different cancers, complexity and challenges.

This edited book comprises chapters that describe the IoT, machine learning, and blockchain technologies for renewable energy and modern hybrid power systems with simulation examples and case studies. After reading this book, users will understand recent technologies such as IoT, machine learning techniques, and blockchain technologies and the application of these technologies to renewable energy resources and modern hybrid power systems through simulation examples and case studies.

By proposing and forming a mobile manipulator for modern multi-floor buildings, A Robotic Framework for the Mobile Manipulator: Theory and Application helps readers visualize an end-to-end workflow for making a robot system work in a targeted environment. From a product-oriented viewpoint, this book is considered as a bridge from theories to real products, in which robotic software modules and the robotic system integration are mainly concerned. In the end, readers will have an overview of how to build and integrate various single robotic modules to execute a list of designed tasks in the real world, as well as how to make a robot system work independently, without human interventions. With references and execution guidelines provided at the end of each chapter, the book will be a useful tool for developers and researchers looking to expand their knowledge about the robotics and the robotic software.

Includes case studies illustrating the business processes that underlines the use of big data and health analytics to improve healthcare delivery Discusses AI based smart paradigms for reliable predictions of infectious disease dynamics which can help or prevent disease transmission Highlights the different aspects of using extended reality for diverse healthcare applications and aggregates the current state of research Offers intelligent models of the smart recommender system for personal well-being services and computer-aided drug discovery and design methods Presents novel innovative techniques for extracting user social behavior known as sentiment analysis for healthcare related purposes

The Lean Approach to Digital Transformation: From Customer to Code and From Code to Customer is organized into three parts that expose and develop the three capabilities that are essential for a successful digital transformation: 1. Understanding how to co-create digital services with users, whether they are customers or future customers. This ability combines observation, dialogue, and iterative experimentation. The approach proposed in this book is based on the Lean Startup approach, according to an extended vision that combines Design Thinking and Growth Hacking. Companies must become truly "customer-centric", from observation and listening to co-development. The revolution of the digital age of the 21st century is that customer orientation is more imperative -- the era of abundance, usages rate of change, complexity of experiences, and shift of power towards communities -- are easier, using digital tools and digital communities. 2. Developing an information system (IS) that is the backbone of the digital transformation - called "exponential information system" to designate an open IS (in particular on its borders), capable of interfacing and combining with external services, positioned as a player in software ecosystems and built for processing scalable and dynamic data flows. The exponential information system is constantly changing and it continuously absorbs the best of information processing technology, such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. 3. Building software "micro-factories" that produce service platforms, which are called "Lean software factories." This "software factory" concept covers the integration of agile methods, tooling and continuous integration and deployment practices, a customer-oriented product approach, and a platform approach based on modularity, as well as API-based architecture and openness to external stakeholders. This software micro-factory is the foundation that continuously produces and provides constantly evolving services. These three capabilities are not unique or specific to this book, they are linked to other concepts such as agile methods, product development according to lean principles, software production approaches such as CICD (continuous integration and deployment) or DevOps. This book weaves a common frame of reference for all these approaches to derive more value from the digital transformation and to facilitate its implementation. The title of the book refers to the "lean approach to digital transformation" because the two underlying frameworks, Lean Startup and Lean Software Factory, are directly inspired by Lean, in the sense of the Toyota Way. The Lean approach is present from the beginning to the end of this book -- it provides the framework for customer orientation and the love of a job well done, which are the conditions for the success of a digital transformation.

Focuses on the definition, engineering, and delivery of AI solutions as opposed to AI itself Reader will still gain a strong understanding of AI, but through the perspective of delivering real solutions Explores the core AI issues that impact the success of an overall solution including i. realities of dealing with data, ii. impact of AI accuracy on the ability of the solution to meet business objectives, iii. challenges in managing the quality of machine learning models Includes real world examples of enterprise scale solutions Provides a series of (optional) technical deep dives and thought experiments.

Focuses on the definition, engineering, and delivery of AI solutions as opposed to AI itself Reader will still gain a strong understanding of AI, but through the perspective of delivering real solutions Explores the core AI issues that impact the success of an overall solution including i. realities of dealing with data, ii. impact of AI accuracy on the ability of the solution to meet business objectives, iii. challenges in managing the quality of machine learning models Includes real world examples of enterprise scale solutions Provides a series of (optional) technical deep dives and thought experiments.

This new book, Bioethanol: Biochemistry and Biotechnological Advances, presents some insightful perspectives and important advances in the bioethanol industry. The volume goes into detail on the biochemical and physiological parameters carried out by the main bioethanol-producing microorganisms as well as the discusses the potential applications that bioproducts can have and the advantages they generate. The chapter authors discuss a variety of issues, including the physiology of ethanol production by yeasts, by Zymomonas mobilis, and by Clostridium thermocellum. Other sources of biofuel, such as sweet sorghum, Agave americana L. leaves waste, and fungi are included as well. Chapters also discuss the genetic regulation and genetic engineering of principal microorganisms and then go on to address ways to increase ethanol tolerance in industrially important ethanol fermenting organisms, methods for developing sustainable fermentable substrates, and new strategies for ethanol purification. Chapters explore the design and engineering requirements for bioreactors, bioelectrosynthesis of ethanol via bioelectrochemical systems, and more. The book will be a valuable resource for faculty and students in this area as well as for scientists, researchers, and managers in the biofuel industry in the area of biofuel production, fermentation process, environmental engineering and all other related scientific areas.

Focusing on how visual information is represented, stored and extracted in the human brain, this book uses cognitive neural modeling in order to show how visual information is represented and memorized in the brain. Breaking through traditional visual information processing methods, the author combines our understanding of perception and memory from the human brain with computer vision technology, and provides a new approach for image recognition and classification. While biological visual cognition models and human brain memory models are established, applications such as pest recognition and carrot detection are also involved in this book. Given the range of topics covered, this book is a valuable resource for students, researchers and practitioners interested in the rapidly evolving field of neurocomputing, computer vision and machine learning.

- Covers the state-of-the-art in hybrid power cycles for power generation with lower emission - Discusses ongoing research & development activities, challenges, constraints, and opportunities in both theoretical as well as application aspects of several hybrid technologies for power generation - Presents new energy storage technique - Contains exergoeconomic and environmental analysis for several hybrid configurations - Presents SOFC integrated blade cooled gas turbine hybrid power cycles

This reference text introduces the classical probabilistic model, deep learning, and big data techniques for improving medical imaging and detecting various diseases. The text addresses a wide variety of application areas in medical imaging where deep learning techniques provide solutions with lesser human intervention and reduced time. It comprehensively covers important machine learning for signal analysis, deep learning techniques for cancer detection, diabetic cases, skin image analysis, Alzheimer's disease detection, coronary disease detection, medical image forensic, fetal anomaly detection, and plant phytology. The text will serve as a useful text for graduate students and academic researchers in the fields of electronics engineering, computer science, biomedical engineering, and electrical engineering.

Encyclopedia of Nuclear Energy, Four Volume Set provides a comprehensive and reliable overview of the many ways nuclear energy contributes to society. Comprised of four volumes, it includes topics such as generating clean electricity, improving medical diagnostics and cancer treatment, improving crop yields, improving food shelf-lives, and crucially, the deployment of nuclear energy as an alternative energy source, one that is proving to be essential in the management of global warming. Carefully structured into thematic sections, this encyclopedia brings together the vast and highly diversified literature related to nuclear energy into a single resource, with convenient to read, cross-referenced chapters. This book will serve as an invaluable resource for researchers in the fields of energy, engineering, material science, chemistry, and physics, from both industry and academia.

This book introduces critical mapping as a problem-focused design approach for analyzing systemic societal problems like food, to scope out existing solutions, and find opportunities for sustainable design intervention. This book puts forth a framework entitled 'wicked solutions' that can be applied to determine issues that designers should address to make real differences in the world and yield sustainable change. The book assesses the current role of design in attaining food security in a sustainable, equitable, and just manner. Accomplishing this goal is not simple, if it was, it would not be called a wicked problem. But this book shows how a particular repertoire of design tools can be deployed to find solutions and strategize the development of novel outcomes within a complex and interconnected terrain. To address the wicked problem of food insecurity, inequity, and injustice, this book highlights seventy three peer-reviewed design outcomes that epitomize sustainable food design. This includes local and regional sustainable design outcomes funded or supported by public or private institutions and local and widespread design outcomes created by citizens. In doing so, this book sets the stage for an evidence-driven and -informed design future that facilitates the designers' visualization of wicked solutions to complex social problems, such as food insecurity. Drawing on an array of case studies from across the world, from urban rooftop farms and community cookers to mobile apps and food design cards, this book provides vitally important information about existing sustainable food design outcomes in a way that is organized, accessible, and informative. This book will be of great interest to academics and professionals working in the field of design and sustainable food systems. Students interested in learning about food and sustainability from across design studies, food studies, innovation and entrepreneurship, urban studies and global development will also find this book of great use.

Biofuels and Rural Poverty makes an original contribution to the current controversial global debate on biofuels, in particular the consequences that large-scale production of transport fuel substitutes can have on rural areas, principally in developing countries but also in some poor rural areas of developed countries.

Three key concerns are examined from a North-South perspective: ecological issues (related to land use and biodiversity), pro-poor policies (related to food and land security, gender and income generation) and equity of benefits within the global value chain. Can biofuels be pro-poor? Can smallholder farmers be equitably integrated in the biofuels global supply chain? Is the biofuels production chain detrimental to biodiversity?

Most other books available on biofuels take a technical approach and are aimed at addressing energy security or climate change issues. This title focuses on the socio-economic impacts on rural people's livelihoods, offering a unique perspective on the potential role of biofuels in reducing rural poverty.

Covers modeling, optimization and control of energy system, and data analysis, collected using SCADA system Uses system dynamics methodology (based on control systems theory) in addition to other modeling tools Focusses on energy and environmental issues Provides optimal operational planning and management of integrated electric power systems and smart grids Describes simulated planning and management of integrated national electric power systems using system dynamics

China's rapid economic growth in the recent decades has produced an unprecedented energy vulnerability that could threaten the sustainability of its economic development, a linchpin to social stability and ultimately the regime legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as well as the foundation for China's rising power aspirations. What is the Chinese perception of the energy security and challenges, how has the Chinese government responded to the challenges? What are the international implications of China's search for energy security? This collection of contributions by leading scholars seeks answers to these extremely important questions. The book is divided into three parts. Part I presents an overview of China's sense of energy security and its strategic responses. Part II examines China's energy policy-making processes, the efforts to reform and reorganize the energy sector and reset policy priorities Part III focuses on the international implications of China's search for energy security. This book consists of articles published in the Journal of Contemporary China.