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Books > Professional & Technical > Technology: general issues > Engineering: general
At?rstsight,thisbookisaboutfacerecognitioninthebrain.Itsmorelasting value, however,lies in the paradigmatic way in which this particular problem is treated. From the basic ideas that are worked out here in concrete detail, it is a naturaland simple next step to at leastimagine, if not realizein model form, much more generalstructures and processes,thus helping to bridge the still tremendous chasm between mind and brain. It is the purpose of this foreword to point out these generic traits. For centuries, thinking about the brain has been dominated by the most complexmechanisticdevicesofthetime,clockwork,communicatinghydraulic tubesor,today,thecomputer.Thecomputer,takenasincarnationoftheU- versal Turing Machine, can implement any conceivable process, so that also a functional brain can surely be simulated on it, an idea that, beginning in the ?fties of the last century, has been seducing scientists to create "art- cial intelligence" in the computer. As a result we now have an information technology that displays many functional capabilities formerly regarded as the exclusive domain of the mind. As fascinating as this is, doting on "int- ligent machines" is systematically diverting our attention awayfrom the true problems of understanding the working of the brain.
Enterprise Interoperability is the ability of an enterprise or organisation to work with other enterprises or organisations without special effort. It is now recognised that interoperability of systems and thus sharing of information is not sufficient to ensure common understanding between enterprises. Knowledge of information meaning and understanding of how is to be used must also be shared if decision makers distributed between those enterprises in the network want to act consistently and efficiently. Industry's need for Enterprise Interoperability has been one of the significant drivers for research into the Internet of the Future. EI research will embrace and extend contributions from the Internet of Things and the Internet of Services, and will go on to drive the future needs for Internets of People, Processes, and Knowledge.
This book provides specific topics intending to contribute to an improved knowledge on Technology Evaluation and Selection in a Life Cycle Perspectives. Although each chapter will present possible approaches and solutions, there are no recipes for success. Each reader will find his/her balance in applying the different topics to his/her own specific situation. Case studies presented throughout will help in deciding what fits best to each situation, but most of all any ultimate success will come out of the interplay between the available solutions and the specific problem or opportunity the reader is faced with.
Technology-Assisted Neurorehabilitation introduces biomedical engineers, health professionals and researchers to the study and integration of neurorehabilitation advances, specifically focusing on applied technologies and mathematical methods. Coverage includes neuroanatomy and neuromodulation, robotic rehabilitation devices, signal processing, human-machine interfaces, software development, serious games and virtual reality. It takes an interdisciplinary approach, including real world applications and new trends. Both medical and technological fields are represented, with a focus on neurological disease. With the computerization of today's therapeutic technology, this book is a valuable asset to any student in the bioengineering or healthcare fields.
The Advanced Research Workshop on "Nuclear Submarine Decommissioning and Related Problems" was held at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Russia on June 19-22, 1995. On June 17 and 18, 1995 some of the workshop participants visited the Zwezdochka Shipyard at Severodvinsk which is a repair and dismantlement facility for Russian nuclear submarines. Attendance at the workshop was approximately 115 with participants from Russia, United States, France, Norway, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, and Germany. The workshop was sponsored by the Disarmament Panel of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Science Committee. The sponsorship and the financial support of NATO is gratefully acknowledged. The workshop was organized in Russia by the Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBRAE). The efforts of many individuals from IBRAE in producing both a technically challenging workshop and an almost flawless one are also gratefully acknowledged. In addition, the support of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the State Committee of the Russian Federation on Defense Technologies, the Ministry of the Russian Federation on Atomic Energy, the Navy of the Russian Federation, and the United States Department of Energy is acknowledged. xi CURRENT STATUS OF NUCLEAR SUBMARINE DECOMMISSIONING PROBLEMS OF NUCLEAR SUBMARINE DECOMMISSIONING AND RECYCLING N. I. SHUMKOV State Committee for Defense Industry (Goseomoboronprom) Moscow, Russia 1. General Description of the Problem Undoubtedly, the problem of nuclear submarine decommissioning and recycling has been worrying Russian civil and military specialists involved in development, building and operation of submarines for many years.
This volume contains the proceedings of the First International Con- rence on "Complex System Design & Management" (CSDM 2010; website: http://www.csdm2010.csdm.fr). Jointly organized, under the guidance of the CESAMES nonpro?t organization, by Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Centrale de Paris, it was held from October 27 to October 29 at the Cit' e Internationale Universitaire of Paris (France). Mastering complex systems requires the understanding of industrial pr- tices as well as sophisticated theoretical techniques and tools. Thus, the c- ationofameetingforumatEuropeanlevel(whichdidnotexistyet)dedicated to all academic researchers and industrial actors working on complex ind- trial systems engineering was deemed crucial. It was actually for us a sine qua non condition in order to nurture and develop in Europe this complex industrial systems science which is now emergent. The purpose of the "Complex Systems Design & Management" (CSDM) conference was exactly to be such a forum, in order to become, in time, the European academic-industrial conference of reference in the ?eld of complex industrialsystems engineering,which is a quite ambitious objective.To make the CSDM conference this convergence point of the academic and industrial communities in complex industrial systems, we based our organization on a principle of complete parity between academics and industrialists (see the conference organization sections in the next pages). This principle was ?rst implemented as follows: * the Programme Committee consists of 50 % academics and 50 % indust- alists, * the Invited Speakers are coming equally from academic and industrial environments.
This book concentrates on intelligent technologies as it relates to engineering systems. The book covers the following topics: networking, signal processing, artificial intelligence, control and software engineering, intelligent electronic circuits and systems, communications, and materials and mechanical engineering. The book is a collection of original papers that have been reviewed by technical editors. These papers were presented at the International Conference on Intelligent Technologies and Engineering Systems, held Dec. 13-15, 2012.
This book describes the latest research developments in modeling and simulation in industrial engineering. Topics such as decision and performance analysis and industrial control systems are described. Case studies in industry and services as well as engineering economy and cost estimation are also covered.
Several consistent solutions for cooperative system control have recently been identified by the authors of the current monograph. This was achieved by solving three separate tasks that are essential for solving the problem of cooperative manipulation as a whole. The first task is related to the understanding of the physical nature of cooperative manipulation and finding a way for a sufficiently exact characterization of cooperative system statics, kinematics and dynamics. After successfully completing this task, in the frame of the second task, the problem of coordinated motion of the cooperative system is solved. Finally, as a solution to the third task, the control laws of cooperative manipulation are synthesized. The starting point in dealing with the above three tasks of cooperative manipulation was the assumption that the problem of force uncertainty in cooperative manipulation can be resolved by introducing elastic properties into the cooperative system, at least in the part where force uncertainty appears. In static and dynamic analysis of the elastic structure of cooperative systems the finite element method is applied. In contrast to the procedure used in the major part of the available literature where deformation work is expressed by deviations from the unloaded state of fixed elastic structure, in this monograph the deformation work is expressed by internal forces as a function of the absolute coordinates of contacts of mobile elastic structure. Coordinated motion and control in cooperative manipulation are solved as the problem of coordinated motion and control of a mobile elastic structure, taking into account the specific features of cooperative manipulation. Coordinated motion and control laws in cooperative manipulation are synthesized on the basis of a non-linear model where the problem of uncertainty is solved, which is not the case in the available literature. Simple examples demonstrate the consistent procedure of mathematical modeling and synthesis of nominal coordinated motion, as well as control of the cooperative system. This book will be useful to a wide audience of engineers, ranging from undergraduate and graduate students, new and advanced academic researchers, to practitioners (mechanical and electrical engineers, computer and system scientists). It is intended for readers whose work involves manufacturing, industrial, robotics, automation, computer and control engineering, and who wish to find out about this important new technology and its potential advantages for control engineering applications.
Healthcare Kaizen focuses on the principles and methods of daily continuous improvement, or Kaizen, for healthcare professionals and organizations. Kaizen is a Japanese word that means "change for the better," as popularized by Masaaki Imai in his 1986 book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success and through the books of Norman Bodek, both of whom contributed introductory material for this book. Winner of a 2013 Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award! In 1989, Dr. Donald M. Berwick, founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, endorsed the principles of Kaizen in the New England Journal of Medicine, describing it as "the continuous search for opportunities for all processes to get better." This book shows how to make this goal a reality. Healthcare Kaizen shares some of the methods used by numerous hospitals around the world, including Franciscan St. Francis Health, where co-author Joe Swartz has led these efforts. Most importantly, the book covers the management mindsets and philosophies required to make Kaizen work effectively in a hospital department or as an organization-wide program. All of the examples in the book were shared by leading healthcare organizations, with over 200 full-color pictures and visual illustrations of Kaizen-based improvements that were initiated by nurses, physicians, housekeepers, senior executives and other staff members at all levels. Healthcare Kaizen will be helpful for organizations that have embraced weeklong improvement events, but now want to follow the lead of ThedaCare, Virginia Mason Medical Center, and others who have moved beyond just doing events into a more complete management system based on Lean or the Toyota Production System. It's often said, without much reflection, that people hate change. The experiences shared
The advent of the digital economy has the potential to dramatically change the conventional interrelationships among individuals, enterprises and society. There can be little doubt that to achieve vigorous socioeconomic developments in the 21st century, people will have to aggressively use information technology to boost innovation and to organically link the results of that innovation to solutions to global environmental issues and social challenges such as the opportunity divide. We are responsible for taking advantage of the opportunities opened up by the digital economy and for turning those opportunities into things that reflect our values and goals. The book examines the overall impact of the digital economy and the development of a practical institutional design.
Information engineering and applications is the field of study concerned with constructing information computing, intelligent systems, mathematical models, numerical solution techniques, and using computers and other electronic devices to analyze and solve natural scientific, social scientific and engineering problems. Information engineering is an important underpinning for techniques used in information and computational science and there are many unresolved problems worth studying. The Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Information Engineering and Applications (IEA 2012), which was held in Chongqing, China, from October 26-28, 2012, discusses the most innovative research and developments including technical challenges and social, legal, political, and economic issues. A forum for engineers and scientists in academia, industry, and government, the Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Information Engineering and Applications presents ideas, results, works in progress, and experience in all aspects of information engineering and applications.
The 2003 International Conference "Hydrogen Materials Science and Chemistry of Carbon Nanomaterials" was held in September 2003. In the tradition of the earlier ICHMS conferences, this meeting served as an interdisciplinary forum for the presentation and discussion of the most recent research on transition to hydrogen-based energy systems, technologies for hydrogen production, storage, utilization, materials, energy and environmental problems. The aim of the volume is to provide an overview of the latest scientific results on research and development in the different topics cited above. The representatives from industry, public laboratories, universities and governmental agencies have presented the most recent advances in hydrogen concepts, processes and systems, to evaluate current progress in these areas of investigations and to identify promising research directions for the future.
Stochastic Filtering Theory uses probability tools to estimate
unobservable stochastic processes that arise in many applied fields
including communication, target-tracking, and mathematical
finance.
Multiple disciplines depend on computer programs and software to predict project challenges, outcomes, and solutions. Through the use of virtual prototyping, researchers and professionals are better able to analyze data and improve projects without direct experimentation, which can be costly or dangerous. The Handbook of Research on Computational Simulation and Modeling in Engineering is an authoritative reference source on the computer models and technologies necessary to enhance engineering structures and planning for real-world applications. This publication is an essential resource for academicians, researchers, advanced-level students, technology developers, and engineers interested in the advancements taking place at the intersection of computer technology and the physical sciences. This publication features chapters on the advanced technologies developed within the field of engineering including prediction tools, software programs, algorithms, and theoretical and computational models.
Systematic Design of Analog IP Blocks introduces a design
methodology that can help to bridge the productivity gap. Two
different types of designs, depending on the design challenge, have
been identified: commodity IP and star IP. Each category requires a
different approach to boost design productivity. Commodity IP
blocks are well suited to be automated in an analog synthesis
environment and provided as soft IP. The design knowledge is
usually common knowledge, and reuse is high accounting for the
setup time needed for the analog library. Star IP still changes as
technology evolves and the design cost can only be reduced by
following a systematic design approach supported by point tools to
relieve the designer from error-prone, repetitive tasks, allowing
him/her to focus on new ideas to push the limits of the design.
In recent years, with the advent of ?ne line lithographical methods, molecular beam epitaxy, organometallic vapour phase epitaxy and other experimental techniques, low dimensional structures having quantum con?nement in one, two and three dimensions (such as inversion layers, ultrathin ?lms, nipi's, quantum well superlattices, quantum wires, quantum wire superlattices, and quantum dots together with quantum con?ned structures aided by various other ?elds) have attracted much attention, not only for their potential in uncovering new phenomena in nanoscience, but also for their interesting applications in the realm of quantum e?ect devices. In ultrathin ?lms, due to the reduction of symmetry in the wave-vector space, the motion of the carriers in the direction normal to the ?lm becomes quantized leading to the quantum size e?ect. Such systems ?nd extensive applications in quantum well lasers, ?eld e?ect transistors, high speed digital networks and also in other low dimensional systems. In quantum wires, the carriers are quantized in two transverse directions and only one-dimensional motion of the carriers is allowed. The transport properties of charge carriers in quantum wires, which may be studied by utilizing the similarities with optical and microwave waveguides, are currently being investigated. Knowledge regarding these quantized structures may be gained from original research contributions in scienti?c journals, proceedings of international conferences and various - view articles.
This book is a result of teaching stochastic processes to junior and senior undergr- uates and beginning graduate students over many years. In teaching such a course, we have realized a need to furnish students with material that gives a mathematical presentation while at the same time providing proper foundations to allow students to build an intuitive feel for probabilistic reasoning. We have tried to maintain a b- ance in presenting advanced but understandable material that sparks an interest and challenges students, without the discouragement that often comes as a consequence of not understanding the material. Our intent in this text is to develop stochastic p- cesses in an elementary but mathematically precise style and to provide suf?cient examples and homework exercises that will permit students to understand the range of application areas for stochastic processes. We also practice active learning in the classroom. In other words, we believe that the traditional practice of lecturing continuously for 50 to 75 minutes is not a very effective method for teaching. Students should somehow engage in the subject m- ter during the teaching session. One effective method for active learning is, after at most 20 minutes of lecture, to assign a small example problem for the students to work and one important tool that the instructor can utilize is the computer. So- times we are fortunate to lecture students in a classroom containing computers with a spreadsheet program, usually Microsoft's Excel.
Intelligent paradigms play a tremendous role in the field of Assistive and Preventive Healthcare (APH). This book presents some of the latest research in the field of APH by most prestigious researchers. Coverage includes Multimedia medical informatics; Virtual reality; Digital talking books; Electronic Locomotion Aids, and Multimedia Communication Systems for the Blind; Information Technology for the Deaf.
Energy can be neither created nor destroyed but it can be wasted. The United States wastes two-thirds of its energy, including 80 percent of the energy used in transportation. So the nation has a tremendous opportunity to develop a sensible energy policy based on benefits and costs. But to do that we need facts not hyperbole, not wishful thinking. Mara Prentiss presents and"interprets political and technical information from government reports and press releases, as well as fundamental scientific laws, to advance a bold claim: wind and solar power could generate 100 percent of the United States average total energy demand for the foreseeable future, even without waste reduction. To meet the actual rather than the average demand, significant technological and political hurdles must be overcome. Still, a U.S. energy economy based entirely on wind, solar, hydroelectricity, and biofuels is within reach. The transition to renewables will benefit from new technologies that decrease energy consumption without lifestyle sacrifices, including energy optimization from interconnected smart devices and waste reduction from use of LED lights, regenerative brakes, and electric cars. Many countries cannot obtain sufficient renewable energy within their borders, Prentiss notes, but U.S. conversion to a 100 percent renewable energy economy would, by itself, significantly reduce the global impact of fossil fuel consumption. Enhanced by full-color visualizations of key concepts and data, Energy Revolution "answers one of the century s most crucial questions: How can we get smarter about producing and distributing, using and conserving, energy?" |
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