This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date description of the Josephson effect, a topic of never-ending interest in both fundamental and applied physics. In this volume, world-renowned experts present the unique aspects of the physics of the Josephson effect, resulting from the use of new materials, of hybrid architectures and from the possibility of realizing nanoscale junctions. These new experimental capabilities lead to systems where novel coherent phenomena and transport processes emerge. All this is of great relevance and impact, especially when combined with the didactic approach of the book. The reader will benefit from a general and modern view of coherent phenomena in weakly-coupled superconductors on a macroscopic scale. Topics that have been only recently discussed in specialized papers and in short reviews are described here for the first time and organized in a general framework. An important section of the book is also devoted to applications, with focus on long-term, future applications. In addition to a significant number of illustrations, the book includes numerous tables for comparative studies on technical aspects.

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 book describes first the principle photon generation processes from nuclear reactions, electron motion and from discrete quantum transitions. It then focuses on the use of photons in various selected fields of modern natural and life sciences. It bridges disciplines such as physics, chemistry, earth- and materials science, proteomics, information technology, photoelectrochemistry, photosynthesis and spintronics. Advanced light sources and their use in natural and life sciences are emphasized and the effects related to the quantum nature of photons (quantum computing, teleportation) are described. The content encompasses among many other examples the role of photons on the origin of life and on homochirality in biology, femtosecond laser slicing, photothermal cancer therapy, the use of gamma rays in materials science, photoelectrochemical surface conditioning, quantum information aspects and photo-spintronics. The book is written for scientists and graduate students from all related disciplines who are interested in the science beyond their immediate research field. It is meant to encourage interdisciplinary research and development in an age where nanoscience results in a convergence of formerly more disparate science.

This volume, which brings together research presented at the IUTAM Symposium Intelligent Multibody Systems - Dynamics, Control, Simulation, held at Sozopol, Bulgaria, September 11-15, 2017, focuses on preliminary virtual simulation of the dynamics of motion, and analysis of loading of the devices and of their behaviour caused by the working conditions and natural phenomena. This requires up-to-date methods for dynamics analysis and simulation, novel methods for numerical solution of ODE and DAE, real-time simulation, passive, semi-passive and active control algorithms. Applied examples are mechatronic (intelligent) multibody systems, autonomous vehicles, space structures, structures exposed to external and seismic excitations, large flexible structures and wind generators, robots and bio-robots. The book covers the following subjects: -Novel methods in multibody system dynamics; -Real-time dynamics; -Dynamic models of passive and active mechatronic devices; -Vehicle dynamics and control; -Structural dynamics; -Deflection and vibration suppression; -Numerical integration of ODE and DAE for large scale and stiff multibody systems; -Model reduction of large-scale flexible systems. The book will be of interest for scientists and academicians, PhD students and engineers at universities and scientific institutes.

Real-time simulations of the behaviour of a rail vehicle require realistic solutions of the wheel-rail contact problem which can work in a real-time mode. Examples of such solutions for the online mode have been well known and are implemented within standard and commercial tools for the simulation codes for rail vehicle dynamics. This book is the result of the research activities carried out by the Railway Technology Lab of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Politecnico di Torino. This book presents work on the project for the development of a real-time wheel-rail contact model and provides the simulation results obtained with dSpace real-time hardware. Besides this, the implementation of the contact model for the development of a real-time model for the complex mechatronic system of a scaled test rig is presented in this book and may be useful for the further validation of the real-time contact model with experiments on a full scale test rig.

Regular Nanofabrics in Emerging Technologies gives a deep insight into both fabrication and design aspects of emerging semiconductor technologies, that represent potential candidates for the post-CMOS era. Its approach is unique, across different fields, and it offers a synergetic view for a public of different communities ranging from technologists, to circuit designers, and computer scientists. The book presents two technologies as potential candidates for future semiconductor devices and systems and it shows how fabrication issues can be addressed at the design level and vice versa. The reader either for academic or research purposes will find novel material that is explained carefully for both experts and non-initiated readers. Regular Nanofabrics in Emerging Technologies is a survey of post-CMOS technologies. It explains processing, circuit and system level design for people with various backgrounds.

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.

Who hasn't dreamed of seeing matter transformed in a way that suits you? This is the goal of 4D printing, using materials that can change in terms of shape and property under the effect of energy stimulation. From the description of the actions and actuators, the authors show the weaknesses that limit the industrialization of 4D printing processes; these are the modes of energy stimulation. To prepare for the future, two chapters are introduced: "Material-Process Duality in Industrial 4D Printing" and "How to Approach 4D Printing in Design". If the capture and reuse of 4D printing knowledge is necessary for this objective, the conclusion leaves the existing myth around the 4D printing theme and proposes a "draft" roadmap that should be the subject of reflection and scientific debate on a concept that is still immature, but full of promise.

Intelligent technical systems, which combine mechanical, electrical and software engineering with methods from control engineering and advanced mathematics, go far beyond the state of the art in mechatronics and open up fascinating perspectives. Among these systems are so-called self-optimizing systems, which are able to adapt their behavior autonomously and flexibly to changing operating conditions. The Collaborative Research Center 614 "Self-optimizing concepts and structures in mechanical engineering" pursued the long-term aim to enable others to develop dependable self-optimizing systems. Assuring their dependability poses new challenges. However, self-optimization also offers the possibility to adapt the system's behavior to improve dependability during operation.

The aim of this book is to provide methods and techniques to master the challenges and to exploit the possibilities given by self-optimization. The reader will be able to develop self-optimizing systems that fulfill and surpass today s dependability requirements easily.

This book is directed to researchers and practitioners alike. It gives a brief introduction to the holistic development approach for self-optimizing mechatronic systems and the steps required to assure a dependable product design starting with the very early conceptual design phase. A guideline to select suitable methods for each step and the methods themselves are included. Each method is individually introduced, many examples and full references are given.

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This thesis transports you to a wonderful and fascinating small-scale world and tells you the origin of several new phenomena. The investigative tool is the improved discrete dislocation-based multi-scale approaches, bridging the continuum modeling and atomistic simulation. Mechanism-based theoretical models are put forward to conveniently predict the mechanical responses and defect evolution. The findings presented in this thesis yield valuable new guidelines for microdevice design, reliability analysis and defect tuning.

This book discusses new techniques for detecting, controlling, and exploiting the impacts of temperature variations on nanoscale circuits and systems. A new sensor system is described that can determine the temperature dependence as well as the operating temperature to improve system reliability. A new method is presented to control a circuit's temperature dependence by individually tuning pull-up and pull-down networks to their temperature-insensitive operating points. This method extends the range of supply voltages that can be made temperature-insensitive, achieving insensitivity at nominal voltage for the first time.

Hard machining is a recent technology that can be defined as a direct machining operation of workpieces that have hardness values typically in the 45-70HRc range using tools with geometrically-defined cutting edges.

This operation always presents the challenge of selecting a cutting tool insert that facilitates an extended tool life and high-precision machining of the component. Hard machining presents several advantages when compared with the traditional methodology based on finish grinding operations after heat treatment of workpieces. This technology also offers a great contribution to sustainable manufacturing.

Hard materials comprise hardened steels, high-speed steels, heat-treatable steels, tool steels, bearing steels and chilled/white cast irons. Inconnel, Hastelloy, cobalt alloys for biomedical applications and other special materials are also classified as hard materials. These materials are in constant use by the automotive industry for bearing production and for the machining of dies and moulds as well as other components for advanced industries.

Machining of Hard Materials aims to provide the fundamentals and recent advances in the study of hard machining of materials. All chapters are written by international experts in this important field of research.

Chapter 1 defines machining of hard materials and its application in industry. Chapter 2 is dedicated to advanced cutting tools used for the machining of hard materials. Chapter 3 describes the mechanics of the cutting and chip formation. Chapter 4 contains information on surface integrity. Chapter 5 is dedicated to finite element modelling and simulation. Finally, Chapter 6 is dedicated to computational methods and optimization.

Machining of Hard Materials can serve as a useful reference for academics; manufacturing and materials researchers; manufacturing and mechanical engineers; and professionals in machining and related industries.

The principal aim of this NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) "Nanostructured and Advanced Materials for Applications in Sensor, Optoelectronic and Photovoltaic Technology" was to present a contemporary overview of the field of nanostructured and advanced electronic materials. Nanotechnology is an emerging scientific field receiving significant worldwide attention. On a nanometer scale, materials or structures may possess new and unique physical properties. Some of these are now known to the scientific community, but there may well be many properties not yet known to us, rendering it as a fascinating area of research and a suitable subject for a NATO ASI. Yet another aspect of the field is the possibility for creating meta-stable phases with unconventional properties and the ultra-miniaturization of current devices, sensors, and machines. Such nanotechnological and related advanced materials have an extremely wide range of potential applications, viz. nanoscale electronics, sensors, optoelectronics, photonics, nano-biological systems, na- medicine, energy storage systems, etc. This is a wide-ranging subject area and therefore requires the formation of multi-disciplinary teams of physicists, chemists, materials scientists, engineers, molecular biologists, pharmacologists, and others to work together on the synthesis and processing of materials and structures, the understanding of their physical properties, the design and fabrication of devices, etc. Hence, in formulating our ASI, we adopted an int- disciplinary approach, bringing together recognised experts in the various fields while retaining a level of treatment accessible to those active in specific individual areas of research and development.

This book provides readers with a variety of algorithms and software tools, dedicated to the physical design of through-silicon-via (TSV) based, three-dimensional integrated circuits. It describes numerous "manufacturing-ready" GDSII-level layouts of TSV-based 3D ICs developed with the tools covered in the book. This book will also feature sign-off level analysis of timing, power, signal integrity, and thermal analysis for 3D IC designs. Full details of the related algorithms will be provided so that the readers will be able not only to grasp the core mechanics of the physical design tools, but also to be able to reproduce and improve upon the results themselves. This book will also offer various design-for-manufacturability (DFM), design-for-reliability (DFR), and design-for-testability (DFT) techniques that are considered critical to the physical design process.

This book focuses on chemical and nanophotonic technology to be used to develop novel nano-optical devices and systems. It begins with temperature- and photo-induced phase transition of ferromagnetic materials. Further topics include: energy transfer in artificial photosynthesis, homoepitaxial multiple quantum wells in ZnO, near-field photochemical etching and nanophotonic devices based on a nonadiabatic process and optical near-field energy transfer, respectively and polarization control in the optical near-field for optical information security. Taken as a whole, this overview will be a valuable resource for engineers and scientists working in the field of nano-electro-optics. Written for: Scientists, optical engineers and graduate students

Although world-class firms like GE and Motorola have relied on Six Sigma to build their performance cultures, these processes are all too often left out of human resources (HR) functions. This lack of Six Sigma principles is even more surprising because preventing errors and improving productivity are so critical to the people management processes of hiring, retention, appraisal, and development.From the history and evolution of the Total Quality movement to initiatives for introducing a Six Sigma continuous process improvement strategy in your HR department, Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma introduces a new way to envision your role within the organization. It explains how this powerful methodology works and supplies a roadmap to help you find and eliminate waste in your HR processes.Describing exactly what HR excellence means, the book outlines dozens of proven approaches as well as a hierarchy of the exact steps required to achieve it. It illustrates the Six Sigma methodology from the creation of a project to its successful completion. At each stage, it describes the specific tools currently available and provides examples of organizations that have used Six Sigma within HR to improve their organizations.The text presents proven approaches that can help you solve and even eliminate people management problems altogether. Filled with real-world examples, it demonstrates how to implement six sigma into the transformational side of your organization. It also includes a listing of additional resources to help you along your Six Sigma journey.Explaining how to build a new business model for your HR organization, the book supplies the new perspective and broad view you will need to discover and recommend game-changing alternatives to traditional HR approaches in your organization.

Systems and Applications in Optical Fiber Sensor Technology The essential technology which underpins developments in optical fiber sensors continues to expand, and continues to be driven to a very large extent by advances in optoelectronics which have been produced for the ever-expanding optical com munications systems and networks of the world. The steps forward in the technol ogy, often accompanied by a reduction in the price of associated components, have been, and continue to be, adapted for use in a wide variety of optical fiber sensor systems. These include, for example, the use of photoinduced gratings as fiber sensor components, coupled with the wider availability of shorter wavelength lasers, bright luminescent sources and high-sensitivity detectors which have opened up new possibilities for both novel fiber optic sensor applications and new sensing systems. This is to be welcomed at a time when, coupled with integrated optic miniaturized devices and detectors, real possibilities of systems integration, at lower cost and increased utility, can be offered. The fiber laser, and the expansions of the types and availability of the doped fiber on which it is based, offer further examples of the integration of the essential components of advanced optical sensor systems, fitted for a new range of applications."

This book is about large-scale electronic circuits design driven by nanotechnology, where nanotechnology is broadly defined as building circuits using nanoscale devices that are either implemented with nanomaterials (e.g., nanotubes or nanowires) or following an unconventional method (e.g., FinFET or III/V compound-based devices). These nanoscale devices have significant potential to revolutionize the fabrication and integration of electronic systems and scale beyond the perceived scaling limitations of traditional CMOS. While innovations in nanotechnology originate at the individual device level, realizing the true impact of electronic systems demands that these device-level capabilities be translated into system-level benefits. This is the first book to focus on nanoscale circuits and their design issues, bridging the existing gap between nanodevice research and nanosystem design.

This book examines the characteristics of Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells with a focus on deriving realistic finite element models. The book also explains in detail how to set up measuring systems, data analysis, and PEM Fuel Cells' static and dynamic characteristics. Covered in detail are design and operation principles such as polarization phenomenon, thermodynamic analysis, and overall voltage; failure modes and mechanisms such as permanent faults, membrane degradation, and water management; and modelling and numerical simulation including semi-empirical, one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional models. It is appropriate for graduate students, researchers, and engineers who work with the design and reliability of hydrogen fuel cells, in particular proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

This thesis presents the first direct observations of the 3D-shape, size and electrical properties of nanoscale filaments, made possible by a new Scanning Probe Microscopy-based tomography technique referred to as scalpel SPM. Using this innovative technology and nm-scale observations, the author achieves essential insights into the filament formation mechanisms, improves the understanding required for device optimization, and experimentally observes phenomena that had previously been only theoretically proposed.

This thesis consists of an in-depth study of investigating microstructure-property relationships in bulk metallic glasses using a novel quantitative approach by which influence of the second phase features on mechanical properties can be independently and systematically analyzed. The author evaluates and optimizes the elastic and plastic deformation, as well as the overall toughness of cellular honeycombs under in-plane compression and porous heterostructures under uniaxial tension. The study reveals three major deformation zones in cellular metallic glass structures, where deformation changes from collective buckling showing non-linear elasticity to localized failure exhibiting a brittle-like deformation, and finally to global sudden failure with negligible plasticity as the length to thickness ratio of the ligaments increases. The author found that spacing and size of the pores, the pore configuration within the matrix, and the overall width of the sample determines the extent of deformation, where the optimized values are attained for pore diameter to spacing ratio of one with AB type pore stacking.

This book describes approaches to solving the problems of developing the central nervous system of robots (CNSR) based on smart electromechanical systems (SEMS) modules, principles of construction of the various modules of the central nervous system and variants of mathematical software CNSR in control systems for intelligent robots. It presents the latest advances in theory and practice at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Developers of intelligent robots to solve modern problems in robotics are increasingly addressing the use of the bionic approach to create robots that mimic the complexity and adaptability of biological systems. These have smart electromechanical system (SEMS), which are used in various cyber-physical systems (CPhS), and allow the functions of calculation, control, communications, information storage, monitoring, measurement and control of parameters and environmental parameters to be integrated. The behavior of such systems is based on the information received from the central nervous system of the robot (CNSR) on the state of the environment and system state. Recent advances in computer science, measuring and computing techniques have stimulated the practical realization of the CNSR, providing a fundamentally new approach to the methods and algorithms of formation of appropriate robot behavior. Intelligent robots with CNSR occupy a special place among the highly efficient robotic systems with parallel structures and play an important role in modern automated industries, and this timely book is a valuable resource for specialists in the field of robotics and control, as well as for students majoring in "Robots", "System analysis and management", and "Automation and control".

Intelligent technical systems, which combine mechanical, electrical and software engineering with control engineering and advanced mathematics, go far beyond the state of the art in mechatronics and open up fascinating perspectives. Among these systems are so-called self-optimizing systems, which are able to adapt their behavior autonomously and flexibly to changing operating conditions. Self-optimizing systems create high value for example in terms of energy and resource efficiency as well as reliability.

The Collaborative Research Center 614 "Self-optimizing Concepts and Structures in Mechanical Engineering" pursued the long-term aim to open up the active paradigm of self-optimization for mechanical engineering and to enable others to develop self-optimizing systems.

This book is directed to researchers and practitioners alike. It provides a design methodology for the development of self-optimizing systems consisting of a reference process, methods, and tools. The reference process is divided into two phases the domain-spanning conceptual design and the domain-specific design and development. For the conceptual design a holistic approach is provided. Domain-specific methods and tools developed especially for the design and development of self-optimizing systems are described and illustrated by application examples. This book will enable the reader to identify the potential for self-optimization and to develop self-optimizing systems independently."

This book provides a new direction in electronics research with the invention of a new material tuPOY, which changes our perception of developing electronics. Evolving on a relatively underplayed phenomenon of static electricity in scientific exploration and application, tuPOY upholds the potential to rival both silicon and metals as electronics of the future. Devices made of tuPOY present a new emblem to the technological world, where we could envision our electronic paraphernalia from a completely different perspective. A computer the size of a big wall, which could be neatly folded and kept in our pockets when not in use and laundered on a regular basis, can be imagined possible with this invention. The concept, manufacturing process, physics and uses of tuPOY as the next generation material of electronics is described in this book. The book covers the production process of tuPOY and goes on to conceptual advancement from manipulating the sensing, radiating and processing properties of tuPOY. Theoretical modelling of tuPOY is characterized by steady-state equations exploiting interchanges based on the lattice kinetics, which mathematizes an Interchange Phenomenon in tuPOY. The numerical manifestations calibrate mathematically, tuPOY's response to any external physical impetus such as charge, heat or energy flow. The book validates the sensing properties and theoretical model by designing a tuPOY sensor which can be used in a plethora of applications. A novel microstrip antenna is designed by amalgamation of tuPOY, raw silk and polynylon composites to experimentally verify the radiation properties of the new material. The conduction properties are verified by drawing fibres of tuPOY and using them as wires and connectors in electronics. A Power Generating Unit (PGU) is designed with tuPOY as its primary element. This is a first of its kind PGU that scavenges power from thermal energy presenting a new dimension in operational power dynamics. Overall this book should be of interest to a wide range of readers ranging from researchers, scientists, developers, manufacturers, engineers, graduate students and anyone who has satiety to think differently.