This book provides a broad overview of spaciousness in music theory, from mixing and performance practice, to room acoustics, psychoacoustics and audio engineering, and presents the derivation, implementation and experimental validation of a novel type of spatial audio system. Discussing the physics of musical instruments and the nature of auditory perception, the book enables readers to precisely localize synthesized musical instruments while experiencing their timbral variance and spatial breadth. Offering interdisciplinary insights for novice music enthusiasts and experts in the field of spatial audio, this book is suitable for anyone interested in the study of music and musicology and the application of spatial audio mixing, or those seeking an overview of the state of the art in applied psychoacoustics for spatial audio.

"Vibro-Acoustics of Lightweight Sandwich Structures" introduces the study of the coupled vibration and acoustic behavior of lightweight sandwich structures in response to harmonic force and sound pressure. This book focuses on the theoretical modeling and experimental investigation of lightweight sandwich structures in order to provide a predictive framework for vibro-acoustic characteristics of typical engineering structures. Furthermore, by developing solution tools, it concentrates on the influence of key systematic parameters leading to effective guidance for optimal structure design toward lightweight, high-stiffness and superior sound insulation capability.

This book is intended for researchers, scientists, engineers and graduate students in mechanical engineering especially in structural mechanics, mechanics and acoustics.

Fengxian Xin and Tianjian Lu both work at the School of Aerospace, Xi an Jiaotong University."

This book discusses the principles, methodologies, and challenges of robotic musicianship through an in-depth review of the work conducted at the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology (GTCMT), where the concept was first developed. Robotic musicianship is a relatively new research field that focuses on the design and development of intelligent music-making machines. The motivation behind the field is to develop robots that not only generate music, but also collaborate with humans by listening and responding in an expressive and creative manner. This combination of human and machine creativity has the potential to surprise and inspire us to play, listen, compose, and think about music in new ways. The book provides an in-depth view of the robotic platforms designed at the GTCMT Robotic Musicianship Group, including the improvisational robotic percussionists Haile and Shimon, the personal robotic companion Shimi, and a number of wearable robots, such as the Robotic Drumming Prosthesis, The Third Drumming Arm, and the Skywalker Piano Hand. The book discusses numerous research studies based on these platforms in the context of five main principles: Listen like a Human, Play Like a Machine, Be Social, Watch and Learn, and Wear It.

The only gluten-free baking book you'll ever need, with delicious recipes that work perfectly every time.

From proper crusty bread, pillowy soft cinnamon rolls and glorious layered cakes to fudgy brownies, incredibly flaky rough puff pastry and delicate patisserie – everything that once seemed impossible to make gluten-free can now be baked by you.

Baked to Perfection begins with a thorough look at the gluten-free baking basics: how different gluten-free flours behave, which store-bought blends work best, and how to mix your own to suit your needs. Covering cakes, brownies, cookies, pastry and bread in turn, Katarina shares the best techniques for the recipes in that chapter, and each recipe is accompanied by expert tips, useful scientific explanations and occasional step-by-step photography to help you achieve gluten-free perfection.

Recipes include classic bakes like super-moist chocolate cake, caramel apple pie and chocolate chip cookies, the softest, chewiest bread, including crusty artisan loaves, baguettes, brioche burger buns and soda bread, and mouth-watering showstoppers like toasted marshmallow brownies, coffee cream puffs and strawberries + cream tart.

This book provides detailed insights into how space and its applications are, and can be, used to support the development of the full range and diversity of African societies, as encapsulated in the African Union's Agenda 2063. Like previous books in the "Southern Space Studies" series, it focuses on the role of space in supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Africa, but it covers an even more extensive array of relevant and timely topics addressing all facets of African development. It demonstrates that, while great achievements have been made in recent years in terms of economic and social development, which has lifted many of Africa's people out of poverty, there is still much that needs to be done to fulfill the basic needs of Africa's citizens and afford them the dignity they deserve: to this end space is already being employed in diverse fields of human endeavor to serve Africa's goals for its future, but there is much room for further incorporation of space systems and data. Providing a comprehensive overview of the role space is playing in achieving Africa's developmental aspirations, the book is of great interest to both students and professionals in fields such as space studies, international relations, governance, social and rural development, and many others.

Over the last two decades, the image of the U.S. space program has become seriously tarnished. Its problems have ranged from massive cost overruns to serious program delays to catastrophic mission failures. The space program, once the most prominent symbol of American scientific and technological preeminence, now seems but one more example of government bumbling, extravagance, and waste. In this study, Kay examines the recent problems of the space program and finds that NASA's failures, like its earlier successes, are ultimately traceable to the way the American political system operates. Asking can democracies fly in space?, the author suggests that the traditional workings of democratic politics actually exacerbates those very features of space projects--size, expense, and complexity--that make their development so difficult in the first place.

Former NASA Astronaut Harrison Schmitt advocates a private, investor-based approach to returning humans to the Moon-to extract Helium 3 for energy production, to use the Moon as a platform for science and manufacturing, and to establish permanent human colonies there in a kind of stepping stone community on the way to deeper space. With governments playing a supporting role-just as they have in the development of modern commercial aeronautics and agricultural production-Schmitt believes that a fundamentally private enterprise is the only type of organization capable of sustaining such an effort and, eventually, even making it pay off.

This volume explores the cross-linkages between the kinetic processes and macroscopic phenomena in the solar atmosphere, which are at the heart of our current understanding of the heating of the closed and open corona and the acceleration of the solar wind. The focus lies on novel data, on theoretical models that have observable consequences through remote sensing, and on near-solar and inner-heliosphere observations, such as anticipated by the upcoming Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe missions, which are currently developed by the international community. This volume is aimed at students and researchers active in solar physics and space science. Previously published in Space Science Reviews journal, Vol. 172, Nos. 1-4, 2012.

Compliant mechanisms and actuators are growing in importance due to their benefits in robotics, medical technology, sensor applications, or in handling compressible objects. This book helps to understand the mechanical behavior of compliant systems. Suggested classifications and different modeling methods are shown that allow for the description of compliant systems.

This book collects lectures of an international NATO-Russian Advanced Research Workshop on Detection and Disposal of Improvised Explosives (IE) used by terrorists. The disposal of IE is especially dangerous, because they are often much more unstable and mechanically more sensitive than commercial or military explosives. This text covers detection of explosives by different analytical methods and the different shape and compositions of the explosive charge, and offers up-to-date advice on handling and disposal.

This practical step-by-step guide describes the key geological field techniques needed by today's exploration geologists involved in the search for metallic mineral deposits. The techniques described are fundamental to the collection, storage and presentation of geological data and their use to locate ore. This book explains the various tasks which an exploration geologist is asked to perform in the sequence in which they might be employed in an actual exploration project. Hints and tips are given and the steps are illustrated with numerous examples drawn from real programmes on which the author has worked. Traditional skills are emphasised to show how they can be combined effectively with modern high-technology approaches. For instance this second edition also reviews new techniques geophysics along with GPS applications in exploration and the application of state-of-the-art software to mapping, 3D modelling and resource estimation. Another important facet is the discussion of harm minimisation, especially during the exploration stage, beginning with landowner and community consultation, through exploration planning, leading to sustainable and environmentally responsible mining practices.

This book reviews a variety of methods for wave-based acoustic simulation and recent applications to architectural and environmental acoustic problems. Following an introduction providing an overview of computational simulation of sound environment, the book is in two parts: four chapters on methods and four chapters on applications. The first part explains the fundamentals and advanced techniques for three popular methods, namely, the finite-difference time-domain method, the finite element method, and the boundary element method, as well as alternative time-domain methods. The second part demonstrates various applications to room acoustics simulation, noise propagation simulation, acoustic property simulation for building components, and auralization. This book is a valuable reference that covers the state of the art in computational simulation for architectural and environmental acoustics.

Living and working in extra-terrestrial habitats means being potentially vulnerable to very harsh environmental, social, and psychological conditions. With the stringent technical specifications for launch vehicles and transport into space, a very tight framework for the creation of habitable space is set. These constraints result in a very demanding "partnership" between the habitat and the inhabitant. This book is the result of researching the interface between people, space and objects in an extra-terrestrial environment. The evaluation of extra-terrestrial habitats in comparison to the user's perspective leads to a new framework, comparing these buildings from the viewpoint of human activity. It can be used as reference or as conceptual framework for the purpose of evaluation. It also summarizes relevant human-related design directions. The work is addressed to architects and designers as well as engineers.

This thesis focuses on the construction and application of an electron radiation belt kinetic model including various adiabatic and non-adiabatic processes. The terrestrial radiation belt was discovered over 50 years ago and has received a resurgence of interest in recent years. The main drivers of radiation belt research are the fundamental science questions surrounding its complex and dramatic dynamics and particularly its potential hazards posed to space-borne systems. The establishment of physics-based radiation belt models will be able to identify the contributions of various mechanisms, forecast the future radiation belt evolution and then mitigate its adverse space weather effects. Dr. Su is now an Professor works in Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.

This book comprises selected proceedings of the Fourth International Conference in Ocean Engineering (ICOE2018), focusing on emerging opportunities and challenges in the field of ocean engineering and offshore structures. It includes state-of-the-art content from leading international experts, making it a valuable resource for researchers and practicing engineers alike.

"Distinguished African Americans in Aviation and Space Science" offers brief, readable entries that describe the lives and careers of 80 men and 20 women who defied poverty and prejudice to excel in the fields of aviation and space exploration. Each essay begins with birth and death dates, educational institutions attended and degrees earned, positions held, and awards won. A short summary of the individual's contribution to aviation or space science is followed by a biographical narrative divided into three sections: Early Years, Higher Education, and Career Highlights. Often based on the authors' correspondence with the subjects themselves, or with family members, this illustrated volume provides the fullest and most accessible biographical information available for many of these figures.

There's no better guide through mind-expanding questions such as what the nature of space and time is, how we fit within the universe, and how the universe fits within us than Neil deGrasse Tyson. But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in digestible chapters consumable any time and anywhere in the busy day. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry reveals just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe.

This book presents a study for the determination of environmental load factors for Jacket Platforms in Malaysia and a methodology to determine the life extension of aging platforms. The simplified methods described here could be used for determining not only structural reliability but also safety factors. Its content is particularly interesting to design and maintenance engineers who are working in offshore or onshore industry.