Although regularly introducing new products or services is the lifeblood of most industries, bringing them to market can be fraught with peril. Timing, cost, and quality all play important roles in a successful product launch and avoiding expensive - often in more than just dollars - recalls and redesigns. Quality Assurance: Applying Methodologies for Launching New Products, Services, and Customer Satisfaction details continual improvement (CI), a proven process for avoiding common problems and creating customer satisfaction. The book explores the three fundamental approaches required to create a truly CI culture in any organization: a) consistent philosophy of improvement by management, b) receptive organizational culture, and c) the entire culture of the organization must be willing to make decisions based on measurement and data. It outlines the seven principles: research/plan, assure, explain, prioritize, demonstrate, confirm, and show. However, as with CI itself, this attitude must be incorporated into the processes of any organization and create products or services for the market place that will delight customers rather than just satisfying them. Time and cost constraints are the biggest culprits here, not any one person's lack of due diligence. When this happens, organizations must look at the bigger picture internally and identify it as a system problem. Based on the author's 35 years of experience, this book covers the essential items for doing the right thing the first time especially during launching a good product and/or service to the customer. It identifies key indicators and methodologies that will help you attain excellent performance, delivery, and cost with both the customer and supplier. In other words, by following these methodologies and indicators, the job will get done right the first time.

Are Amazon Alexa and Google Home limited to our bedrooms, or can they be used in hospitals? Do you envision a future where physicians work hand-in-hand with voice AI to revolutionize healthcare delivery? In the near future, clinical smart assistants will be able to automate many manual hospital tasks-and this will be only the beginning of the changes to come. Voice AI is the future of physician-machine interaction and this Focus book provides invaluable insight on its next frontier. It begins with a brief history and current implementations of voice-activated assistants and illustrates why clinical voice AI is at its inflection point. Next, it describes how the authors built the world's first smart surgical assistant using an off-the-shelf smart home device, outlining the implementation process in the operating room. From quantitative metrics to surgeons' feedback, the authors discuss the feasibility of this technology in the surgical setting. The book then provides an in-depth development guideline for engineers and clinicians desiring to develop their own smart surgical assistants. Lastly, the authors delve into their experiences in translating voice AI into the clinical setting and reflect on the challenges and merits of this pursuit. The world's first smart surgical assistant has not only reduced surgical time but eliminated major touch points in the operating room, resulting in positive, significant implications for patient outcomes and surgery costs. From clinicians eager for insight on the next digital health revolution to developers interested in building the next clinical voice AI, this book offers a guide for both audiences.

Overview of the development of gene therapy Provides the most up to date information on the development of gene therapy, from the technology involved to gene correction and genome editing Presents CRISPR gene therapy recent trends and applications Discusses siRNA, mRNA, and DNA plasmids

Showcasing the most influential developments, experiments, and architectures impacting the digital, surveillance, automotive, industrial, and medical sciences, Image Processing Technologies tracks the evolution and advancement of computer vision and image processing (CVIP) technologies, examining methods and algorithms for image analysis, optimization, segmentation, and restoration. It focuses on recent approaches and techniques in CVIP applications development and explores various coding methods for individual types of 3-D images. This text/reference brings researchers and specialists up-to-date on the latest innovations affecting multiple image processing environments.

Eco-Art Therapy in Practice is uplifting, optimistic, and empowering while outlining cost-effective, time efficient, and research-based steps on how to use nature in session to enhance client engagement and outcomes. Dr. Pike employs her background and credentials as a certified educational leader and board-certified art therapist to walk readers through establishing ecologically-based practices- such as growing art materials using hydroponics regardless of facility constraints. Each chapter is aligned with the continuing education requirements for art therapy board certification renewal to make its relevance clear and to orient the book for future training program integration. Appendices feature clinical directives in easy-to-follow, one-page protocols which encourage readers to consider client needs when applying methods, along with intake forms to bolster real-world application. This text will help clinicians and educators to employ eco-art therapy in practice, in turn empowering their clients and conveying an inclusive message of respect- respect for self, others, community, and the world.

Business-as-usual in terms of industrial and technological development - even if based on a growing fear of pollution and shortages of natural resources - will never deliver sustainable development. However, the growing interest in recent years in the new science of industrial ecology (IE), and the idea that industrial systems should mimic the quasi-cyclical functions of natural ecosystems in an 'industrial food chain', holds promise in addressing not only short-term environmental problems but also the long-term holistic evolution of industrial systems. This possibility requires a number of key conditions to be met, not least the restructuring of our manufacturing and consumer society to reduce the effects of material and energy flows at the very point in history when globalisation is rapidly increasing them. This book sets out to address the theoretical considerations that should be made implicit in future research as well as practical implementation options for industry. The systematic recovery of industrial wastes, the minimisation of losses caused by dispersion, the dematerialisation of the economy, the requirement to decrease our reliance on fuels derived from hydrocarbons and the need for management systems that help foster inter-industry collaboration and networks are among the topics covered. The book is split into four sections. First, the various definitions of IE are outlined. Here, important distinctions are made between industrial metabolism and IE. Second, a number of different industrial sectors, including glass, petroleum and electric power, are assessed with regard to the operationalisation of industrial ecology. Eco-industrial Parks and Networks are also analysed. Third, the options for overcoming obstacles that stand in the way of the closing of cycles such as the separation and screening of materials are considered and, finally, a number of implications for the future are assessed. The contributions to Perspectives on Industrial Ecology come from the leading thinkers working in this field at the crossroads between a number of different disciplines: engineering, ecology, bio-economics, geography, the social sciences and law.

This book, Chemistry and Industrial Techniques for Chemical Engineers, brings together innovative research, new concepts, and novel developments in the application of new tools for chemical and materials engineers. It contains significant research, reporting new methodologies, and important applications in the fields of chemical engineering as well as the latest coverage of chemical databases and the development of new methods and efficient approaches for chemists. With clear explanations, real-world examples, this volume emphasizes the concepts essential to the practice of chemical science, engineering, and technology while introducing the newest innovations in the field.

Although many books have been written about Mathematica, very few of them cover the new functionality added to the most recent versions of the program. This thoroughly revised second edition of Mathematica Beyond Mathematics: The Wolfram Language in the Real World introduces the new features using real-world examples based on the experience of the author as a consultant and Wolfram certified instructor. The examples strike a balance between relevance and difficulty in terms of Mathematica syntax, allowing readers to incrementally build up their Mathematica skills as they go through the chapters While reading this book, you will also learn more about the Wolfram Language and how to use it to solve a wide variety of problems. The author raises questions from a wide range of topics and answers them by taking full advantage of Mathematica's latest features. For example: What sources of energy does the world really use? Are our cities getting warmer? Is the novel El Quixote written in Pi? Is it possible to reliably date the Earth using radioactive isotopes? How can we find planets outside our solar system? How can we model epidemics, earthquakes and other natural phenomena? What is the best way to compare organisms genetically? This new edition introduces the new capabilities added to the latest version of Mathematica (version 13), and discusses new topics related to machine learning, big data, finance economics, and physics. New to the Second Edition Separate sections containing carefully selected additional resources that can be accessed from either Mathematica or online Online Supplementary materials including code snippets used in the book and additional examples. Updated commands to take full advantage of Mathematica 13.

Provides a practical, experimentally-driven introduction to the materials science of surfaces and thin films Connects the essential concepts with the variables controlled in a laboratory setting, to aid in understanding experimental design and results Takes a visual approach with many illustrations of experimental deposition and characterization techniques to highlight what happens at the atomic level on surfaces and thin films Includes worked examples and problems at the end of each chapter Gives conceptually clear, mathematically simple explanations

Features • Presents an accessible introduction to the topic in addition to more advanced material for specialists in the field. • Covers a broad spectrum of topics this new field. • Contains exciting case studies and examples, such as quantum dots, bionanomaterials, and future perspectives.

Artists and the Practice of Agriculture maps out examples of artistic practices that engage with the aesthetics and politics of gathering food, growing edible and medicinal plants, and interacting with non-human collaborators. In the hands of contemporary artists, farming and foraging become forms of visual and material language that convey personal and political meanings. This book provides a critical analysis of artistic practices that model alternative food systems. It presents rich academic insights as well as 16 conversations with practicing artists. The volume addresses pressing issues, such as the interconnectedness of human and other-than-human beings, the weight of industrial agriculture, the legacy of colonialism, and the promise of place-based and embodied pedagogies. Through participatory projects, the artists discussed here reflect on the links between past histories, present challenges, and future solutions for the food sovereignty of local and networked communities. The book is an easy-to-navigate resource for readers interested in food studies, visual and material cultures, contemporary art, ecocriticism, and the environmental humanities.

• Provides a comprehensive overview of luxury brand management from a sustainability perspective, using cases and examples to demonstrate how sustainability practices can be embedded into the product and applied to existing luxury brands. • Each chapter includes real life case studies from both well-known international brands and boutique luxury start-ups. • Designed as a core or recommended text for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate Luxury Fashion Management and Luxury Brand Management courses.

Considers the life-cycle cost analysis of designing energy efficient electrical distribution systems. Addresses design requirements to integrate buildings with smart grids and micro-grids. Provides an overview of both standard and energy efficient electrical distribution components, including transformers, protection devices, conductors, controllers, and panels. Features a new chapter on optimal design energy efficient and resilient power systems. Includes case studies, exercises, and end-of-chapter problems.

Features • Discusses novel methods of cancer diagnostics and cancer treatment. • Details non and minimally-invasive photonics techniques. • Explores the applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence to these novel techniques.

Covers three important aspects of smart cities i.e., healthcare, smart communication and information, and smart transportation technologies Discusses on various security aspects of medical documents and the data preserving mechanisms Provides better solution using IoT techniques for healthcare, transportation, and communication systems Includes the implementation example, various datasets, experimental results, and simulation procedures Offers solution for various disease prediction systems with intelligent techniques

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present career-long collections of what they judge to be their most interesting publications – extracts from books, key articles, research findings and practical and theoretical contributions. In this fascinating volume, Professor David Canter refl ects on a career that has earned him an international reputation as one of the U.K.’s most eminent applied social psychologists and a pioneer in the fi eld of environmental psychology, through a selection of papers that illustrate one of the foundational themes of his research career: the psychology of place. Split into four parts, each with a new introduction written by the author, the book provides insights into theories, methods and applications of place psychology. Covering a range of publications from early research in the 1960s up to recent explorations, this volume provides the unfolding research that elaborates this seminal theory, offering rich perspectives on how places gain their significance and meaning. Featuring specially written commentary by the author contextualizing the selections and providing an intimate overview of his career, this collection of key publications offers a unique and compelling insight into decades of ground-breaking work, making it an essential resource for all those engaged or interested in the study of places.

Provides insight into the application of applied ecology for bioremediation of radioactive wastes Discusses species selection criteria for tailings radioactivity consolidation Explains safe treatment of radioactive ore processing plants tailings Illustrates the role of ethnobotany in selection of most appropriate species to effectively use in bioremediation Focusses on experimental outcomes

In response to the damage caused by a growth-led global economy, researchers across the world started investigating the association between environmental pollution and its possible determinants using different models and techniques. Most famously, the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesizes an inverted U-shaped association between environmental quality and gross domestic product (GDP). This book explores the latest literature on the environmental Kuznets curve, including developments in the methodology, the impacts of the pandemic, and other recent findings. Researchers have recently broadened the range of the list of drivers of environmental pollution under consideration, which now includes variables such as foreign direct investment, trade expansion, financial development, human activities, population growth, and renewable and nonrenewable energy resources, all of which vary across different countries and times. And in addition to CO2 emissions, other proxies for environmental quality – such as water, land, and ecological footprints – have been used in recent studies. This book also incorporates analysis of the relationship between economic growth and the environment during the COVID-19 crisis, presenting new empirical work on the impact of the pandemic on energy use, the financial sector, trade, and tourism. Collectively, these developments have improved the direction and extent of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and broadened the basket of dependent and independent variables which may be incorporated. This book will be invaluable reading for researchers in environmental economics and econometrics.

Reports on waste valorization in the winemaking industry and converting the waste into more useful products including oils, antioxidants and other valuable materials. Explores research which contributes to environmental sustainability and circular economy in the winemaking industry. Describes other ways to reduce the ecological footprint of the wine industry such as using less fertilizer, more benign pesticides and reduction of water footprint. Proposes options for a potential wine waste biorefining. Reviews alternative uses of agro-industrial wine wastes as sources of additives for the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.

Innovating Construction Law: Towards the Digital Age takes a speculative look at current and emerging technologies and examines how legal practice in the construction industry can best engage with the landscape they represent. The book builds the case for a legal approach based on transparency, traceability and collaboration in order to seize the opportunities presented by technologies such as smart contracts, blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data and building information modelling. The benefits these initiatives bring to the construction sector have the potential to provide economic, societal and environmental benefits as well as reducing the incidence of disputes. The author uses a mixture of black letter law and socio-legal commentary to facilitate the discourse around procurement, law and technology. The sections of the book cover the AS IS position, the TO BE future position as predicted and the STEPS INBETWEEN, which can enable a real change in the industry. The rationale for this approach lies in ensuring that the developments are congruent with the existing frameworks provided by the law. The book proposes various steps that the industry should seriously consider taking from the current position to shape the future of the sector and ultimately create a better, more productive and sustainable construction industry. This book is a readable and engaging guide for students and practitioners looking to learn more about construction law and its relationship with technology and for those seeking a platform for graduate studies in this area.

Aimed at those who are responsible for the overall performance of organisations, divisions or departments in diverse industries such as healthcare, aviation, construction, oil and gas, nuclear, railways and defence, this book introduces a new safety paradigm in comprehensible and practical terms. It aims at improving safety and overall organisational performance through a doable, different and directed approach using multiple small steps. This book will help readers in understanding how to integrate the natural variability of human performance - and our ability to compensate for unpredictability elsewhere - into organisational systems, thereby ensuring successful outcomes. It covers important topics, including complexity, effective workplace innovations, micro-experiments, maintaining alignment between rules and reality, maximising learning and restoring relations. It includes practical examples and supporting material referenced in the expansive notes section. This book: Presents multiple small steps that collectively facilitate the improvement of safety Discusses improving safety in routine work;, not triggered by accidents Covers a chapter on what to do when things go wrong Discusses these methods with the help of numerous vignettes Has a separate section on each industry Safety professionals, academicians, researchers and students (undergraduate and graduate) in health and safety, human factors, ergonomics, occupational health and safety will also appreciate the brevity and clarity of this work in conveying the latest scientific insights on safety.

Less expensive and more environmentally appropriate than conventional engineering approaches, constructed ecosystems are a promising technology for environmental problem solving. Graduate students need an introductory text that details the biology and the ecology of this rapidly developing discipline, known as ecological engineering. Ecological Engineering: Principles and Practice fills this need by describing ecological concepts and theory and demonstrating their application to constructed ecosystems.

Designed as a textbook for a semester length graduate-level course, the text introduces the major concepts and methods of ecological engineering along with this new discipline's most important real-world applications: treatment wetlands, microcosms, composting systems, restoration ecology, soil bioengineering, and invasive species control. The text surveys the field with an introductory chapter on definitions and principles, six chapters treating major sub-fields, a chapter on applications of economics, and a conclusion chapter with synthetic propositions with comments on education and future directions.

This handbook begins with the history of Supply Chain (SC) Engineering, it goes on to explain how the SC is connected today, and rounds out with future trends. The overall merit of the book is that it introduces a framework similar to sundial that allows an organization to determine where their company may fall on the SC Technology Scale. The book will describe those who are using more historic technologies, companies that are using current collaboration tools for connecting their SC to other global SCs, and the SCs that are moving more towards cutting edge technologies. This book will be a handbook for practitioners, a teaching resource for academics, and a guide for military contractors. Some figures in the eBook will be in color. Presents a decision model for choosing the best Supply Chain Engineering (SCE) strategies for Service and Manufacturing Operations with respect to Industrial Engineering and Operations Research techniques Offers an economic comparison model for evaluating SCE strategies for manufacturing outsourcing as opposed to keeping operations in-house Demonstrates how to integrate automation techniques such as RFID into planning and distribution operations Provides case studies of SC inventory reductions using automation from AIT and RFID research Covers planning and scheduling, as well as transportation and SC theory and problems

Within the overall context of sustainable development Environmental Policy discusses the opportunities and constraints that environmental systems place upon the operation of human systems. It suggests environmental policy is a potential way to modify the operation of human systems so that they function within environmental constraints. Key social scientific concepts (political, social and economic) are used to explain the background for the formulation and implementation of environmental policy.
Environmental problems, the role of humans in creating them, sustainable development and how this concept relates to environmental policy are all introduced. The book then considers environmental policy formulation, implementation and evaluation, within three specific contexts: the firm, the nation state and at the international level. It also reviews the place of economics, science and technology in environmental policy.
Detailed case-studies, drawn from a range of international examples, are used throughout to illustrate issues such as global warming, international trade, tourism and the human rights of indigenous peoples. It is well illustrated and includes end of chapter summaries and further reading.

In today's competitive, globalized marketplace, the provision of services and products is a result of teamwork between several organizations. Relationships between organizations of any size are strategically important. If your supplier falls down at a crucial moment, it can have survival implications for your company or for other members of your supply chain. The management of these strategic assets cannot be left to chance and the same attention that you devote to finance, operations, HR, etc. must be applied to business relationships. Despite this, very few organizations focus on this or are even aware that they need to do it. Those that do are unsure how to do it. This is not helped by business schools that focus on either customer relationship management (CRM) or supplier relationship management (SRM) rather than collaboration between partners (Enterprise Relationship Management). This book is a unique "go-to" guide for all managers who should be looking at collaboration with other organizations as a new way to attain outstanding results that would not be achieved on their own. Currently, there is nothing else of this nature on the market. The book identifies relationship management as a pivotal management function. It presents a comprehensive, flexible, end-to-end management process that can be easily incorporated into the existing management structures. Further, they describe the crucial role of the relationship manager who is at the heart of the system and provides the drive to achieve high performance. Any company can tailor this discipline to the needs of its organization - whether an SME or a multi-national company selecting a new partner or managing existing relationships. This book covers the decision of whether or not to partner and with whom, the creation of an appropriate system of governance, the transition to operations, managing performance for continuous improvement, and, finally, controlled wind-up of the partnership. Throughout, diagrams to signpost the sequence of activities, checklists of important actions, and job-related worksheets are provided. In addition, there are numerous case studies in a variety of industries and public sectors that will be used as illustrations. Altogether these make this book ideally suitable for experienced managers as well as for training and induction purposes. Essentially, Implementing and Managing Collaborative Relationships: A Practical Guide for Managers shows managers how they can create and operate a simple and effective system of Enterprise Relationship Management that will enable them to maximize efficiency, resilience, innovation, and profitability.