This book provides a much needed short, reliable and stimulating guide to the mass media in present day society. Incisive, surprising and stimulating it will become an essential text in thinking and writing about the mass media.

The book discusses subjective ratings of quality and preference of unknown voices and dialog partners - their likability, for example. Human natural and artificial voices are studied in passive listening and interactive scenarios. In this book, the background, state of research, and contributions to the assessment and prediction of talker quality that is constituted in voice perception and in dialog are presented. Starting from theories and empirical findings from human interaction, major results and approaches are transferred to the domain of human-computer interaction (HCI). The main objective of this book is to contribute to the evaluation of spoken interaction in humans and between humans and computers, and in particular to the quality subsequently attributed to the speaking system or person based on the listening and interactive experience. Provides a comprehensive overview of research in evaluation of speakers and dialog partners; Presents recent results on the relevance of a first passive and interactive impression; Includes human and HCI evaluation results from a communicative perspective.

This monograph details basic concepts and tools fundamental for the analysis and synthesis of linear systems subject to actuator saturation and developments in recent research. The authors use a state-space approach and focus on stability analysis and the synthesis of stabilizing control laws in both local and global contexts. Different methods of modeling the saturation and behavior of the nonlinear closed-loop system are given special attention. Various kinds of Lyapunov functions are considered to present different stability conditions. Results arising from uncertain systems and treating performance in the presence of saturation are given. The text proposes methods and algorithms, based on the use of linear programming and linear matrix inequalities, for computing estimates of the basin of attraction and for designing control systems accounting for the control bounds and the possibility of saturation. They can be easily implemented with mathematical software packages.

The Second Law, a cornerstone of thermodynamics, governs the average direction of dissipative, non-equilibrium processes. But it says nothing about their actual rates or the probability of fluctuations about the average. This interdisciplinary book, written and peer-reviewed by international experts, presents recent advances in the search for new non-equilibrium principles beyond the Second Law, and their applications to a wide range of systems across physics, chemistry and biology. Beyond The Second Law brings together traditionally isolated areas of non-equilibrium research and highlights potentially fruitful connections between them, with entropy production playing the unifying role. Key theoretical concepts include the Maximum Entropy Production principle, the Fluctuation Theorem, and the Maximum Entropy method of statistical inference. Applications of these principles are illustrated in such diverse fields as climatology, cosmology, crystal growth morphology, Earth system science, environmental physics, evolutionary biology and technology, fluid turbulence, microbial biogeochemistry, plasma physics, and radiative transport, using a wide variety of analytical and experimental techniques. Beyond The Second Law will appeal to students and researchers wishing to gain an understanding of entropy production and its central place in the science of non-equilibrium systems - both in detail and in terms of the bigger picture.

This book introduces an interesting and alternative way to design absorbing boundary conditions (ABCs) for quantum wave equations, basically the nonlinear Schroedinger equation. The focus of this book is the application of the phase space filter approach to derive accurate radiation conditions for Schroedinger equations. Researchers who are interested in partial differential equations and mathematical physics might find this book appealing.

Niklas Luhmann ranks as one of the most important sociologists and social theorists of the twentieth century. Through his many books he developed a highly original form of systems theory that has been hugely influential in a wide variety of disciplines.

In "Introduction to Systems Theory," Luhmann explains the key ideas of general and sociological systems theory and supplies a wealth of examples to illustrate his approach. The book offers a wide range of concepts and theorems that can be applied to politics and the economy, religion and science, art and education, organization and the family. Moreover, Luhmann's ideas address important contemporary issues in such diverse fields as cognitive science, ecology, and the study of social movements.

This book provides all the necessary resources for readers to work through the foundations of systems theory - no other work by Luhmann is as clear and accessible as this. There is also much here that will be of great interest to more advanced scholars and practitioners in sociology and the social sciences.

This volume contains the extended version of selected talks given at the international research workshop "Coping with Complexity: Model Reduction and Data Analysis," Ambleside, UK, August 31 - September 4, 2009. The book is deliberately broad in scope and aims at promoting new ideas and methodological perspectives. The topics of the chapters range from theoretical analysis of complex and multiscale mathematical models to applications in e.g., fluid dynamics and chemical kinetics.

The purpose of this book is to acquaint the reader with the developments in bilinear systems theory and its applications. Bilinear systems can be used to represent a wide range of physical, chemical, biological, and social systems, as well as manufacturing processes, which cannot be effectively modeled under the assumption of linearity. This book provides a unified approach for the identification and control of nonlinear complex objects that can be transformed into bilinear systems, with a focus on the control of open physical processes functioning in a non-equilibrium mode. The material is intended for graduate students, researchers, and specialists engaged in the fields of quantum and molecular computing, control of physical processes, biophysics, superconducting magnetism, physical information science, mathematics, and engineering.

Vilfredo Pareto was one of the great systems theorists of the twentieth century, embracing economics, psychology, sociology and politics. In this important work, Michael McLure takes as his subject of study the rapport between Pareto's economic and sociological theory, and consequently, illuminates the role of economics in public policy development.

This book contains advances on the theory and applications of time-delay systems with particular focus on interconnected systems. The methods for stability analysis and control design are based on time-domain and frequency-domain approaches, for continuous-time and sampled-data systems, linear and nonlinear systems. This volume is a valuable source of reference for control practitioners, graduate students, and scientists researching practical as well as theoretical solutions to a variety of control problems inevitably influenced by the presence of time delays. The contents are organized in three parts: Interconnected Systems analysis, Modeling and and Analysis for Delay systems, and Stabilization and Control Strategies for Delay Systems. This volume presents a selection of 19 contributions presented in the 4th DelSys Workshop which took place in Gif-sur-Yvette, France November 25-27, 2015.

Introduction to Theory of Control in Organizations explains how methodologies from systems analysis and control theory, including game and graph theory, can be applied to improve organizational management. The theory presented extends the traditional approach to management science by introducing the optimization and game-theoretical tools required to account for the special nature of human beings being viewed as control objects. The book introduces a version of mechanism design that has been customized to solve the problems that today's managers must contend with. All mathematical models and mechanisms studied are motivated by the most common problems encountered by managers in firms and non-profit organizations. Requiring no prior knowledge of game theory or mechanism design, the book includes a systematic introduction to the underlying methodology of modern theory of control in organizations. The authors use formal methods to construct robust and efficient decision-making procedures which support all aspects and stages of management activity over all decision horizons-from operational to strategic management. The mathematical and methodological backgrounds of the organizational mechanisms discussed are not limited to game theory but also include systems analysis, control theory, operations research, and discrete mathematics. The book includes a set of exercises in each chapter-from simple to advanced-that provide the reader with the understanding required to integrate advanced methods of optimization, game theory, and mechanism design into daily managerial practice.

This book aims to bring together researchers and practitioners working across domains and research disciplines to measure, model, and visualize complex networks. It collects the works presented at the 10th International Conference on Complex Networks (CompleNet) in Taragona, Spain, March, 2019. With roots in physical, information and social science, the study of complex networks provides a formal set of mathematical methods, computational tools and theories to describe, prescribe and predict dynamics and behaviors of complex systems. Despite their diversity, whether the systems are made up of physical, technological, informational, or social networks, they share many common organizing principles and thus can be studied with similar approaches. This book provides a view of the state-of-the-art in this dynamic field and covers topics such as group decision-making, brain and cellular connectivity, network controllability and resiliency, online activism, recommendation systems, and cyber security. This text will appeal to students and researchers in the field.

Foreword by James L. Massey.
Codes, Graphs, and Systems is an excellent reference for both academic researchers and professional engineers working in the fields of communications and signal processing. A collection of contributions from world-renowned experts in coding theory, information theory, and signal processing, the book provides a broad perspective on contemporary research in these areas. Survey articles are also included. Specific topics covered include convolutional codes and turbo codes; detection and equalization; modems; physics and information theory; lattices and geometry; and behaviors and codes on graphs.
Codes, Graphs, and Systems is a tribute to the leadership and profound influence of G. David Forney, Jr. The 35 contributors to the volume have assembled their work in his honor.

Due to inherent limitations in human sensing organs, most data collected for various purposes contain uncertainties. Even at the rare occasions when accurate data are available, the truthful predictions derived on the data tend to create chaotic consequences. So, to effectively process and make sense out of available data, we need methods to deal with uncertainty inherently existing inside the data. The intent of this monograph is to explore the fundamental theory, methods, and techniques of practical application of grey systems theory, initiated by Professor Deng Julong in 1982. This volume presents most of the recent advances of the theory accomplished by scholars from around the world. From studying this book, the reader will not only acquire an overall knowledge of this new theory but also be able to follow the most current research activities. All examples presented are based on practical applications of the theory when urgent real-life problems had to be addressed. Last but not the least, this book concludes with three appendices. The first one compares grey systems theory and interval analysis while revealing the fact that interval analysis is a part of grey mathematics. The second appendix presents an array of different approaches of studying uncertainties. And, the last appendix shows how uncertainties appear using general systems approach.

Administrators of academic professional and technical communication (PTSC) programs have long relied upon lore--stories of what works--to understand and communicate about the work of program administration. Stories are interesting, telling, engaging, and necessary. But a discipline focused primarily on stories, especially the ephemeral stories narrated at conferences and deliberated at department meetings, usually suffice primarily to solve immediate problems and address day-to-day concerns and activities. This edited collection captures some of those stories and layers them with theoretical perspectives and reflection, to enhance their usefulness to the PTSC program administration community at large. Like the ephemeral stories PTSC program administrators are accustomed to, the stories told in this volume are set within specific institutional contexts that reflect specific institutional challenges. They emphasize the intellectual traces--the debts the authors owe to those who have informed and transformed their administrative work. In so doing, this collection creates another conversation--albeit a robust, diverse, and theoretically informed one--around which program leaders might define or redefine their roles and re-envision their administrative work as the rich, complex, intellectual engagement that we find it to be. This volume asks authors to move beyond a notion of administration as an activity based solely in institutional details and processes. In so doing, they emphasize theory as they share their reflections on core administrative processes and significant moments in the histories of their associated programs, thereby affording opportunities for critical examination in conjunction with practical advice.

Administrators of academic professional and technical communication (PTSC) programs have long relied upon lore--stories of what works--to understand and communicate about the work of program administration. Stories are interesting, telling, engaging, and necessary. But a discipline focused primarily on stories, especially the ephemeral stories narrated at conferences and deliberated at department meetings, usually suffice primarily to solve immediate problems and address day-to-day concerns and activities. This edited collection captures some of those stories and layers them with theoretical perspectives and reflection, to enhance their usefulness to the PTSC program administration community at large. Like the ephemeral stories PTSC program administrators are accustomed to, the stories told in this volume are set within specific institutional contexts that reflect specific institutional challenges. They emphasize the intellectual traces--the debts the authors owe to those who have informed and transformed their administrative work. In so doing, this collection creates another conversation--albeit a robust, diverse, and theoretically informed one--around which program leaders might define or redefine their roles and re-envision their administrative work as the rich, complex, intellectual engagement that we find it to be. This volume asks authors to move beyond a notion of administration as an activity based solely in institutional details and processes. In so doing, they emphasize theory as they share their reflections on core administrative processes and significant moments in the histories of their associated programs, thereby affording opportunities for critical examination in conjunction with practical advice.

This is the first book to present a systematic review of applications of the Haar wavelet method for solving Calculus and Structural Mechanics problems. Haar wavelet-based solutions for a wide range of problems, such as various differential and integral equations, fractional equations, optimal control theory, buckling, bending and vibrations of elastic beams are considered. Numerical examples demonstrating the efficiency and accuracy of the Haar method are provided for all solutions.

The European Conference on Complex Systems, held under the patronage of the Complex Systems Society, is an annual event that has become the leading European conference devoted to complexity science. ECCS'12, its ninth edition, took place in Brussels, during the first week of September 2012. It gathered about 650 scholars representing a wide range of topics relating to complex systems research, with emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches. More specifically, the following tracks were covered:

1. Foundations of Complex Systems

2. Complexity, Information and Computation

3. Prediction, Policy and Planning, Environment

4. Biological Complexity

5. Interacting Populations, Collective Behavior

6. Social Systems, Economics and Finance

This book contains a selection of the contributions presented at the conference and its satellite meetings. Its contents reflect the extent, diversity and richness of research areas in the field, both fundamental and applied.

"

This book on complexity science comprises a collection of chapters on methods and principles from a wide variety of disciplinary fields - from physics and chemistry to biology and the social sciences.In this two-part volume, the first part is a collection of chapters introducing different aspects in a coherent fashion, and providing a common basis and the founding principles of the different complexity science approaches; the next provides deeper discussions of the different methods of use in complexity science, with interesting illustrative applications.The fundamental topics deal with self-organization, pattern formation, forecasting uncertainties, synchronization and revolutionary change, self-adapting and self-correcting systems, and complex networks. Examples are taken from biology, chemistry, engineering, epidemiology, robotics, economics, sociology, and neurology.

The latest edition of this classic is updated with new problem sets and material
The Second Edition of this fundamental textbook maintains the book's tradition of clear, thought-provoking instruction. Readers are provided once again with an instructive mix of mathematics, physics, statistics, and information theory.
All the essential topics in information theory are covered in detail, including entropy, data compression, channel capacity, rate distortion, network information theory, and hypothesis testing. The authors provide readers with a solid understanding of the underlying theory and applications. Problem sets and a telegraphic summary at the end of each chapter further assist readers. The historical notes that follow each chapter recap the main points.
The Second Edition features:
* Chapters reorganized to improve teaching
* 200 new problems
* New material on source coding, portfolio theory, and feedback capacity
* Updated references
Now current and enhanced, the Second Edition of Elements of Information Theory remains the ideal textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in electrical engineering, statistics, and telecommunications.

An Instructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all the problems in the book is available from the Wiley editorial department.

This open access book reports on cutting-edge electrical engineering and microelectronics solutions to foster and support digitalization in the semiconductor industry. Based on the outcomes of the European project iDev40, which were presented at the two first conference editions of the European Advances in Digital Transformation Conference (EADCT 2018 and EADTC 2019), the book covers different, multidisciplinary aspects related to digital transformation, including technological and industrial developments, as well as human factors research and applications. Topics include modeling and simulation methods in semiconductor operations, supply chain management issues, employee training methods and workplaces optimization, as well as smart software and hardware solutions for semiconductor manufacturing. By highlighting industrially relevant developments and discussing open issues related to digital transformation, the book offers a timely, practice-oriented guide to graduate students, researchers and professionals interested in the digital transformation of manufacturing domains and work environments.

This book, based on a selection of talks given at a dedicated meeting in Cortona, Italy, in June 2013, shows the high degree of interaction between a number of fields related to applied sciences. Applied sciences consider situations in which the evolution of a given system over time is observed, and the related models can be formulated in terms of evolution equations (EEs). These equations have been studied intensively in theoretical research and are the source of an enormous number of applications. In this volume, particular attention is given to direct, inverse and control problems for EEs. The book provides an updated overview of the field, revealing its richness and vitality.

Effective use of driving simulators requires considerable technical and methodological skill along with considerable background knowledge. Acquiring the requisite knowledge and skills can be extraordinarily time consuming, yet there has been no single convenient and comprehensive source of information on the driving simulation research being conducted around the world. A how-to-do-it resource for researchers and professionals, Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Medicine, and Psychology brings together discussions of technical issues in driving simulation with broad areas in which driving simulation is now playing a role. The chapters explore technical considerations, methodological issues, special and impaired populations, evaluation of in-vehicle and nomadic devices, and infrastructure evaluations. It examines hardware and software selection, visual database and scenario development, independent subject variables and dependent vehicle, environmental, and psychological variables, statistical and biostatistical analysis, different types of drivers, existing and future key-in vehicle devises, and validation of research. A compilation of the research from more than 100 of the world's top thinkers and practitioners, the book covers basic and advanced technical topics and provides a comprehensive review of the issues related to driving simulation. It describes literally hundreds of different simulation scenarios, provides color photographs of those scenarios, and makes available select videos of the scenarios on an accompanying web site, all of which should prove essential for seasoned researchers and for individuals new to driving simulation.

Written in Alwyn Scott 's inimitable style, one that readers will find both lucid and accessible, this masterwork elucidates the explosion of activity in nonlinear science in recent decades. The book explains the wide-ranging implications of nonlinear phenomena for future developments in many areas of modern science, including mathematics, physics, engineering, chemistry, biology, and neuroscience. Arguably as important as quantum theory, modern nonlinear science is essential for understanding the scientific developments of the twenty-first century.