For readers with no background in acoustics Takes a unique problem based learning approach, reinforcing basic material with progressively complex example problems with solutions. Carefully up-dates and extended from the first edition Solutions to these additional problems available to instructors on request. Suits practising engineers with no acoustics background addressing noise problems in the workplace.

Why do enterprise systems have complicated search pages, when Google has a single search box that works better? Why struggle with an expense reimbursement system that is not as easy as home accounting software? Although this seems like comparing apples to oranges, as information and communication technologies increasingly reach into every industry the demand for easy-to-use work tools continues to grow. An exploration of cutting-edge approaches for evaluating the usability of complex user interaction, Usability of Complex Information Systems: Evaluation of User Interaction focuses on improving design and communicating content to the end user. The book continues the conversation about the evolution of usability, asking how we can design and evaluate these complex systems and the complex work they support. It describes and analyzes approaches to teaching, testing, analyzing, or managing usability studies-approaches that involve technical communicators making novel contributions to how we think about and evaluate increasingly complex systems. The book contains case studies on different types of complexity, including: A complex work environment, requiring collaboration among different people or a goal sustained over time, and often in the face of distractions, interruptions, and planned pauses A complex information context, one with no single answer, where the data changes dynamically or where the best answer may rely on other aspects of a fluid environment A complex technology, in which people use many different applications in their work and collaboration A complex topic, requiring advanced technical or domain knowledge Even systems that seem simple are, in fact, complex. The shopping interface for an e-commerce system may not be complex, but the databases, business processes, and logistics behind it certainly are. The examination of different aspects of designing and examining complexity presented in this book brings you a step further in developing a deeper understanding of what it takes to make complex systems work.

Integrating physical modeling, mathematical analysis, and computer simulation, Instrumentation Design Studies explores a wide variety of specific and practical instrumentation design situations. The author uses MATLAB (R) and SIMULINK (R) for dynamic system simulation, Minitab (R) for statistical applications, and Mathcad for general engineering computations. Rather than consult the extensive manuals of these software packages, readers can access handy, sharply focused material in the appendices to assist in comprehension. After introducing the techniques behind the design of experiments (DOE), the book discusses several technologies for implementing vibration isolation, the design of a high-accuracy pressure transducer, and the use of cold-wire thermometers for measuring rapidly fluctuating fluid temperatures. It then focuses on a basic piezoelectric actuator that provides translational motions up to about 1mm full scale with nanometer resolution, before covering instruments used to measure the viscosity of liquids as well as two special classes of microphones (infrasonic and ultrasonic) and their important specialized applications. The book also presents statistical tools, such as hypothesis testing and confidence intervals, for experiments; the design and applications of thrust stands for measuring vector forces and torques; and the analysis and simulation of a shock calibrator. It concludes with a discussion of how shock testing machines can help reduce or prevent mechanical failures. Spanning system dynamics, measurement, and control, this book addresses the needs of practicing engineers working in instrumentation fields. It focuses on instruments for various applications, from geophysics to mechanical and aerospace engineering.

This book provides an up-to-date, accessible, and comprehensive coverage of human cold stress from principles and theory to practical application. It defines cold stress and how people respond to it. It describes how to assess a cold environment to predict when discomfort, wind-chill, hypothermia, shivering, frostbite, and other consequences will occur. It also advises on what to do to prevent unacceptable outcomes, including determination and selection of clothing to preserve comfort and health. The book will be of interest to practitioners and students and anyone involved with fields such as textiles, clothing, and industrial hygiene.

Planning and Evaluation for Public Safety Leaders presents field-tested techniques and tips to help public safety leaders effectively manage their organizations and overcome challenges. Organizations and agencies operating within the public safety sector are unique in many respects. These unique elements provide a different context in which planning, and performance measurement occur. Without recognizing this particular context, most public planning texts ignore crucial pieces of the puzzle when it comes to effectively achieving and measuring public safety outcomes. This book's practical approach equips students with approachable explanations specific to the public safety context, and practical tools for public safety leaders that can apply to their organizations. Key Features * Each chapter begins with a real-world case from the public safety sector that highlights the importance or possible application of the information covered. * Cases are written in close coordination with the public safety practitioners to illustrate how the concepts covered in the chapter work in a real-world public safety context. * "Put it into Practice" Reflections at the end of each chapter allow new or future public safety leaders to apply the material directly to their current organization. * Boxes describe how to use and apply specific methods in a concise and easy to find tools addressing planning and evaluation challenges as they arise * Key terms and application questions written specifically for students, focus in on the most important concepts and terms from the text. * Overviews of relevant theoretical and scholarly work on the concepts offer connections with course material.

Many economically developing countries and nations without robust occupational hygiene (OH) educational programs endure a shortage of qualified occupational hygienists, resulting in higher rates of workplace injury, illness, and fatality. Damage to valuable infrastructure, environment, and public health also occurs without adequate support. Improving Global Worker Health and Safety Through Collaborative Capacity Building Initiatives outlines a broad variety of capacity building projects in OH. It also introduces detailed experiences of occupational hygienists working abroad and working on special global topics including a discussion of how global trade agreements influence the practice and policy within OH. It describes the special needs of informal workers who do not have a "typical" employer and special challenges of creating university curricular guidelines for OH, building competency, and increasing capacity. This book also informs experienced professionals in international OH-capacity building initiatives and directions. Features: Presents the global impact and importance of occupational hygienists Outlines knowledge and collaboration through networking Provides case studies on real world situations and problems This text will be useful for professionals and graduate students in the fields of occupational health and safety and public health.

Forever Chemicals: Environmental, Economic, and Social Equity Concerns with PFAS in the Environment provides the reader with an understanding of the complex and interwoven issues associated with per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) in our environment. The chapters provide in-depth perspective into various issues, including health, regulation, detection, clean-up strategies and technologies, and more. Taken together or as the reader's interests lead them, the variety of topics covered in the book present a balanced perspective on this complex topic. It will address the current state of PFAS and where indicators are pointing for future developments. The book is also a deeper investigation of the regulatory challenges, analytical hurdles, and toxicological progress to date for the suite of PFAS chemicals. Features Explains the trends that will affect future policy and regulatory decisions Looks holistically at 4000+ PFAS chemicals Includes PFAS risk assessments at contaminated sites and biomonitoring insights Provides in-depth discussions on remediation technologies Illustrates quality and diversified content Provides a balanced perspective on this complex topic

The recent financial crisis has made it paramount for the financial services industry to find new perspectives to look at their industry and, most importantly, to gain a better understanding of how the global financial system can be made less vulnerable and more resilient. The primary objective of this book is to illustrate how the safety science of Resilience Engineering can help to gain a better understanding of what the financial services system is and how to improve governance and control of financial services systems by leveraging some of its key concepts. Resilience is the intrinsic ability of a system to adjust its functioning prior to, during, or following changes and disturbances, so that it can sustain required operations under both expected and unexpected conditions. This definition is focused on the ability to function, rather than just to be impervious to failure, and thereby bridges the traditional conflict between productivity and safety. The core concept of the book is that the behaviour of the financial services system is the result of the tight couplings among the humans, organizations and technologies that are necessary to provide complex financial functions such as the transfer of economic resources. It is a consequence of this perspective that the risks associated with these systems cannot be understood without considering the nature of these tight couplings. Adopting this perspective, the book is designed to provide some answers to the following key questions about the financial crisis: - What actually happened? - Why and how did it happen? - Could something similar happen again? How can we see that in time and how can we control it? - How can sustainable recovery of the global financial system be established? How can its resilience be improved?

The aim of this book is to show how a cultural approach can contribute to the assessment, description and improvement of safety conditions in organizations. The relationship between organizational culture and safety, epitomized through the concept of 'safety culture', has undoubtedly become one of the hottest topics of both safety research and practical efforts to improve safety. By combining a general framework and five research projects, the author explores and further develops the theoretical, methodological and practical basis of the study of safety culture. What are the theoretical foundations of a cultural approach to safety? How can the relationship between organizational culture and safety be empirically investigated? What are the links between organizational culture and safety in actual organizations? How can a cultural approach contribute to the improvement of safety? These are the key questions the book seeks to answer with a unified and in-depth account of the concept of safety culture.

Safety or protective grounding is of vital importance for the protection of individuals from electric shock and structures and industrial concerns from potentially damaging lightning and electrostatic discharges. To many electrical engineers the notion of grounding is nebulous and safety grounding is quite often confused with neutral grounding of the power supply. The main objective of this book is to give the reader a better understanding of safety grounding, why it is needed, where it is needed, and what are the requirements which must be met in order to have an effective grounding system. The text as a whole serves to provide the reader with the necessary background for a better appreciation of the various National and International Standards concerned with safety grounding. This book gives the reader a good understanding of the fundamentals of safety grounding. It is a practical guide that provides a comprehensive coverage of all types of grounding requirements and is intended for students and practicing electrical engineers alike. Summarizes the physiological effects of current on the human body and the effect of current duration Gives the various methods of measuring soil resistivity and measuring the resistance to ground of an electrode or grounding system Reviews different types of ground electrodes and the effect of their geometry and numbers on the resistance to ground Presents the components of a ground system, methods of improving soil resistivity, the types of welds and joints, the criteria for determining conductor cross-sections, galvanic corrosion, and a survey of the different grounding practices used at substations and the different types of grounding systems used for the protection of consumers Deals with electrostatic and lightning hazards that can cause serious damage and the measures used to protect against such damage Throughout the text frequent reference is made to various National and International Standards and their requirements as compliance with these standards is highly advised Asser A. Zaky, Ph.D., FIET, F.Inst.P., FIEEE, is Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering at University of Alexandria, Egypt.

Soldier-robot teams will be an important component of future battle spaces, creating a complex but potentially more survivable and effective combat force. The complexity of the battlefield of the future presents its own problems. The variety of robotic systems and the almost infinite number of possible military missions create a dilemma for researchers who wish to predict human-robot interactions (HRI) performance in future environments. Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations provides an opportunity for scientists investigating military issues related to HRI to present their results cohesively within a single volume. The issues range from operators interacting with small ground robots and aerial vehicles to supervising large, near-autonomous vehicles capable of intelligent battlefield behaviors. The ability of the human to 'team' with intelligent unmanned systems in such environments is the focus of the volume. As such, chapters are written by recognized leaders within their disciplines and they discuss their research in the context of a broad-based approach. Therefore the book allows researchers from differing disciplines to be brought up to date on both theoretical and methodological issues surrounding human-robot interaction in military environments. The overall objective of this volume is to illuminate the challenges and potential solutions for military HRI through discussion of the many approaches that have been utilized in order to converge on a better understanding of this relatively complex concept. It should be noted that many of these issues will generalize to civilian applications as robotic technology matures. An important outcome is the focus on developing general human-robot teaming principles and guidelines to help both the human factors design and training community develop a better understanding of this nascent but revolutionary technology. Much of the research within the book is based on the Human Research and Engineering Directorate (HRED), U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) 5-year Army Technology Objective (ATO) research program. The program addressed HRI and teaming for both aerial and ground robotic assets in conjunction with the U.S. Army Tank and Automotive Research and Development Center (TARDEC) and the Aviation and Missile Development Center (AMRDEC) The purpose of the program was to understand HRI issues in order to develop and evaluate technologies to improve HRI battlefield performance for Future Combat Systems (FCS). The work within this volume goes beyond the research results to encapsulate the ATO's findings and discuss them in a broader context in order to understand both their military and civilian implications. For this reason, scientists conducting related research have contributed additional chapters to widen the scope of the original research boundaries.

Fatigue is probabilistic in nature and involves a complex spectrum of loading history with variable amplitudes and frequencies. Yet most available fatigue failure prediction methods are empirical and concentrate on very specific types of loading. Taking a different approach, Introduction to Thermodynamics of Mechanical Fatigue examines the treatment of fatigue via the principles of thermodynamics. It starts from the premise that fatigue is a dissipative process and must obey the laws of thermodynamics. In general, it can be hypothesized that mechanical degradation is a consequence of irreversible thermodynamic processes. This suggests that entropy generation offers a natural measure of degradation. An Entropic Approach to Fatigue and Degradation Drawing on recent cutting-edge research and development, the authors present a unified entropic approach to problems involving fatigue. They introduce the fundamentals of fatigue processes and explore a wide range of practical engineering applications. Fundamental Concepts and Methodologies The book reviews commonly observed failure modes, discusses how to analyze fatigue problems, and examines the deformation characteristics of a solid material subjected to fatigue loading. It also looks at how to use thermodynamics to determine the onset of fatigue failure. In addition, the book presents methodologies for improving fatigue life and for accelerated fatigue testing. Learn How to Apply the Entropic Approach to Fatigue Problems Comprehensive and well organized, this work helps readers apply powerful thermodynamics concepts to effectively treat fatigue problems at the design stage. It offers an accessible introduction to a new and exciting area of research in the field of fatigue failure analysis.

New chapters and updates highlight the second edition of Laser Safety: Tools and Training. This text provides background information relating to lasers and laser safety, and examines the components of laser work and laser safety from a different perspective. Written by a working laser safety officer, the book considers ways to keep users, as well as those around them, safe. The author encourages readers to think beyond protective eyewear. As it relates to safety, he determines that if eyewear is required, then the laser system is not ideal. This book factors in optics, the vibration elements of the optical table, the power meter, and user training, elements that are not commonly considered in the context of laser safety. It presents ways for users to evaluate the hazards of any laser procedure and ensure that they are following documented laser safety standards. The material serves as a fundamental means or road map for laser users seeking to utilize the safest system possible. What's New in the Second Edition: The second edition provides an inclusion of the Z136.8 Research Laser Standard, and offers updates and an explanation of eye exposure limits (MPE), presents new cases studies, and presents practical example images. It includes coverage of, laser lab design lessons, addresses user facility challenges and laser disposal. Presents case studies of real accidents, preventive measures, and templates for documenting potential laser risks and attendant safety measures Reviews factors often overlooked when one is setting up a laser lab Demonstrates how to investigate a laser incident This text which includes fundamental laser and laser safety information, as well as critical laser use information, is appropriate for both the novice and the seasoned professional.

Bridging an identified gap between research and practice in the domain of risk and organizational learning with respect to human/organizational factors and organizational behaviour, this book highlights the common and recurring threads in contributory factors to accident causation. Based on an extensive research project, it investigates how shipping companies as organizations learn from, filter and give credence/acceptability to differing risk perceptions and how this influences the work culture with special regard to group/team dynamics and individual motivation. The work is presented in the context of the literature regarding conceptual links between risk and the theoretical and operational themes of organizational learning, and in light of interviewees' comments. The themes include processes and structures of knowledge acquisition, information interpretation and distribution, organizational memory and change/adaptation and also levels of learning. The book concludes by discussing some practical implications of the research carried out in various maritime contexts and gives recommendations for the industry and other stakeholders.

How should we organize our selection or training procedures? In what way can a flight crew mediate problems? How are we to understand reported errors? Mechanisms in the Chain of Safety presents recent findings in aviation psychology, bringing fresh insights to such questions. Aviation psychologists study personnel selection and training; they evaluate the management of flight operations, and ultimately they analyse the things that went wrong. The strong interrelation between these components allows us to talk about a chain of safety. This volume appraises this chain of safety by considering the mechanisms that determine its effectiveness - input mechanisms, coping mechanisms and control mechanisms. Each contribution discusses a component of the chain while the book as a whole emphasizes and illustrates that understanding the connections between these parts is essential for the future. By addressing these issues the book leads to further considerations such as how mistakes are linked to training and how coping mechanisms should help us to understand errors and accidents. Mechanisms in the Chain of Safety will appeal to aviation professionals (human factors experts, safety managers, pilots, ATCOs, air navigation service providers, etc.) and academics, researchers, graduates and postgraduates in human factors and psychology. Although primarily written for the aviation industry, this book will also be of interest to other high-risk dynamic activities that face similar challenges: the need to present effective and safe outcomes to the public in general and the stakeholders in particular.

Neurocognitive and Physiological Factors During High-Tempo Operations features world-renowned scientists conducting groundbreaking research into the basic mechanisms of stress effects on the human body and psyche, as well as introducing novel pharmaceutics and equipment that can rescue or improve maximal performance during stress. Its focus is on the military model as an exemplar for high-stress environments, the best for understanding human performance under stress, both in the short-term as well as in the long-term. The unprecedented demands on the modern soldier include constantly shifting enemy threat levels and tactics, ambiguous loyalties, rapidly evolving weaponry, and the need to amass, comprehend, retain, and act upon large datasets of information. During high-tempo operations, soldiers must maintain superior cognitive and physical skill levels throughout extended periods of little to no sleep. Furthermore, although a soldier fresh from training may perform at peak skill, the effects of cognitive and physical strain and sleeplessness during deployment can impair his or her ability to transfer instructional knowledge to complex real-life situations. It is necessary to understand how intense workloads, both mental and physical, combine with total sleep deprivation to alter soldier situation awareness, decision-making, and physical abilities. The resulting knowledge can be used to design rapid, deployable fitness-for-duty measures, alter training protocols, and assess training efficacy in order to enable decision-makers to act at peak ability during high operations tempo. In addition, dual-use applications of resulting knowledge and technology extend well into the civilian sector, to law-enforcement officers, healthcare professionals, and emergency responders. The book differs from many previous human factors publications by presenting state-of-the-art neuroscience data in a format that is comprehensible and informative for readers of diverse backgrounds. It not only details human behaviors and perception, but also provides concise brain imagery and physiological findings to support its conclusions. In addition, the incorporation of the US Army soldier model of extreme stress and extreme performance demands provides a real-life theme that anchors the scientific, organizational, assessment and response aspects of each chapter. This book synthesizes hard facts with real-life accounts of performing under stress and shows how a large oversight institution like the US Army can measure and improve human factors considerations for its members.

In the last 20 years, technological developments have set new standards in driver-vehicle interaction. These developments effect the entire lifecycle, from the moment a customer enters a dealership to examine a prospective vehicle, to the driving experience during the vehicle lifecycle, and the interaction with other road users and facilities in place. It is such developments, socioeconomic on the one hand, technological on the other, that make Automotive Ergonomics: Driver-Vehicle Interaction an important addition to the literature in this field. The book explores the challenges in research and development of new vehicles brought about by recent advances in theory and practice. Highlighting topics such as Human-Machine Interaction, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, and the hugely evolving subject of digital human modeling and simulation in automotive applications, the book covers: Best practices and emerging developments Advances in power train technology Ergonomics of electric vehicles Effects of driver distraction, workload, and physical environments Active safety systems Navigation support Vibration and noise perception Health and safety aspects of driving While this area is not new, most of the books available are either too general or out of date. This book presents the latest developments in the field of ergonomics and human factors and discusses their implications to the design of modern and future vehicles, giving you the tools you need for innovation.

'Complex sociotechnical systems' are systems made up of numerous interacting parts, both human and non-human, operating in dynamic, ambiguous and safety critical domains. Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) is a structured framework specifically developed for considering the development and analysis of these complex socio-technical systems. Unlike many human factors approaches, CWA does not focus on how human-system interaction should proceed (normative modelling) or how human-system interaction currently works (descriptive modelling). Instead, through a focus on constraints, it develops a model of how work can be conducted within a given work domain, without explicitly identifying specific sequences of actions (formative modelling). The framework leads the analyst to consider the environment the task takes place within, and the effect of the imposed constraints on the way work can be conducted. It provides guidance through the process of answering the questions of why the system exists, what activities can be conducted within the domain as well as how these activities can be achieved, and who can perform them. The first part of the book contains a comprehensive description of CWA, introducing it to the uninitiated. It then presents a number of applications in complex military domains to explore and develop the benefits of CWA. Unlike much of the previous literature, particular attention is placed on exploring the CWA framework in its entirety. This holistic approach focuses on the system environment, the activity that takes place within it, the strategies used to conduct this activity, the way in which the constituent parts of the system (both human and non-human) interact and the behaviour required. Each stage of this analysis identifies the constraints governing the system; it is contended that through this holistic understanding of constraints, recommendations can be made for the design of system interaction; increasing the ability of users to cope with unanticipated, unexpected situations. This book discusses the applicability of the approach in system analysis, development and evaluation. It provides process to what was previously a loosely defined framework.

Having an accurate understanding of what is going on is a key commodity for teams working within military systems. 'Situation awareness' (SA) is the term that is used within human factors circles to describe the level of awareness that operators have of the situation that they are engaged in; it focuses on how operators develop and maintain a sufficient understanding of 'what is going on' in order to achieve success in task performance. Over the past two decades, the construct has become a fundamental theme within the areas of system design and evaluation and has received considerable attention from the human factors research community. Despite this, there is still considerable debate over how SA operates in complex collaborative systems and how SA achievement and maintenance is best supported through system, procedure and interface design. This book focuses on the recently developed concept of distributed situation awareness, which takes a systems perspective on the concept and moves the focus on situation awareness out of the heads of individual operators and on to the overall joint cognitive system consisting of human and technological agents. Situation awareness is viewed as an emergent property of collaborative systems, something that resides in the interaction between elements of the system and not in the heads of individual operators working in that system. The first part of the book presents a comprehensive review and critique of existing SA theory and measurement approaches, following which a novel model for complex collaborative systems, the distributed SA model, and a new modelling procedure, the propositional network approach, are outlined and demonstrated. The next part focuses on real-world applications of the model and modelling procedure, and presents four case studies undertaken in the land warfare, multinational warfare and energy distribution domains. Each case study is described in terms of the domain in question, the methodology employed, and the findings derived in relation to situation awareness theory. The third and final part of the book then concentrates on theoretical development, and uses the academic literature and the findings from the case study applications to validate and extend the distributed SA model described at the beginning of the book. In closing, the utility of the distributed SA model and modeling procedure are outlined and a series of initial guidelines for supporting distributed SA through system design are articulated.

Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication for Line and Point Contacts: Asymptotic and Numerical Approaches describes a coherent asymptotic approach to the analysis of lubrication problems for heavily loaded line and point contacts. This approach leads to unified asymptotic equations for line and point contacts as well as stable numerical algorithms for the solution of these elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) problems. A Unique Approach to Analyzing Lubrication Problems for Heavily Loaded Line and Point Contacts The book presents a robust combination of asymptotic and numerical techniques to solve EHL problems for lightly and heavily loaded line and point contacts. It also proposes a reasonably simple and naturally based regularization approach that produces stable solutions in heavily loaded EHL contacts. The book offers a clear understanding of the processes taking place in heavily loaded line and point EHL contacts as well as of the proper solution structure for EHL problems. It outlines concrete ways to determine important design parameters such as lubrication film thickness and frictional stresses and forces. The book establishes a close link between EHL problems for heavily loaded point and line contacts. Fine Tune Your Methods for Solving Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication Problems In most cases, the equations in the book are derived from first principles. The author describes each of the asymptotic and numerical methods in detail, making it easier for readers to apply them to various problems. The problem solutions are presented in the form of simple analytical formulas, graphs, and tables. Almost all the chapters include exercises that highlight key points and skills. Suitable for engineering and applied mathematics students, this is also a unique resource for researchers and practitioners who want to fine tune their solution methods and design better numerical methods to tackle elastohydrodynamic lubrication problems.

A commonly used practice in industry is the machining of sculptured part surfaces on a multiaxis numerical control (NC) machine. While this practice is vital, it is also a costly aspect of the surface generation process. After investing more than 40 years of research into the theory of part surface generation, the author of Generation of Surfaces: Kinematic Geometry of Surface Machining considers an approach that provides optimal machining while factoring in the lowest possible cost. This book presents the modern theory of part surface generation with a focus on kinematic geometry of part surface machining on a multiaxis (NC) machine, and introduces key methods for applying the DG/K-based approach to part surface generation. The DG/K approach is based on the results of research found in two main areas: differential geometry (DG) of surfaces, and kinematics (K) of rigid body in three-dimensional Euclidian space E3. It is an extremely powerful tool for solving a plurality of problems in mechanical/manufacturing engineering. The text is presented in three parts: the basics, the fundamentals, and applications of part surface generation. The first part of the book provides an analytical description of part surfaces, details the principal elements of the theory of multiparametric motion of a rigid body in E3 space, and defines applied coordinate systems. The second half introduces the theory of part surface generation, and includes an analytical description of contact geometry, while the final portion illustrates the potential development of highly effective part surface generation methods. The author illustrates the most complex features of the book with examples, explains all of the results of analysis mathematically, and uses just one set of input parameters-the design parameters of the part surface to be machined. The book considers practical applications for part surface machining and cutting tool design. Developed for use with computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided machining (CAM), this text is useful for anyone starting work on new software packages for sculptured part surface machining on a multiaxis NC machine.

Risky Work Environments provides new insights into the multiple and dynamic trajectories of both near misses and mistakes in complex work environments, based on actual case examples. It also studies the interactions between various activity systems or work practices (design, maintenance, incident investigation, regulation, operation) and their consequences for operational performance. The role of rules and regulations is explored, considering the consequences of deviations and the limitations of enforced compliance. Further, the book explains how to search for, think about and act on information about vulnerability, near misses and mistakes in a way that emphasizes accountability in ways that are not punitive but instead responsible, innovative and provide opportunities for learning. Writing from different disciplines and theoretical perspectives, the contributors analyse working in risky environments which include air traffic control, offshore mining, chemical plants, neo-natal intensive care units, ship piloting and emergency call dispatch centres. In each chapter the authors present rich empirical data and their analyses illustrate a variety of ways in which, despite imperfect systems, safety and resilience is created in human action. In the chapters where the focus is on error or mistakes, the analysis undertaken reveals the logic of actions undertaken at the time as well as their constraints. The contributors are all active researchers within their disciplines and come from Australia, Finland, France, Norway and the Netherlands. The book will be of direct interest to safety scientists, researchers and scientists, as well as human factors practitioners working in complex technological systems.

Although we now have sophisticated algorithms and techniques for determining the shapes and sizes and for matching the fit between shoes and feet, few, if any, of the books currently available cover these new technologies until now. Bringing together high-quality and state-of-the-art contributions from designers, biomechanists, ergonomists, engineers, podiatrists, and scientists from industry and academia, The Science of Footwear provides an in-depth understanding of the technology and techniques involved in the design and development of a popular and demanding consumer product. This book introduces the design, development, manufacturing, and marketing of footwear. The chapters contain data from past research and the state-of-the art methodologies. They not only cover every aspect of the product design, but also how the footwear industry caters to the wide-ranging needs of sophisticated and demanding customers. The footwear industry has rapidly changed over the last 10 years. Mass production has changed to personalization and mass customization, areas that are not well-understood. This book explores these different concepts in a coherent way, drawing on differing views that give a holistic view of the science behind footwear. Collating information from different disciplines, the book provides the tools to develop the next generation of footwear.

Inland Waterway (IW), or river vessels are in every respect different from the seagoing ships. The professional literature is mostly focused on conventional seagoing fleets, leaving a gap in the documentation of design practices for IW vessels. The principal attribute that differentiates river vessels from the seagoing ships is the low, or shallow, draught due to water depth restrictions. This book addresses key aspects for the design of contemporary, shallow draught IW vessels for the transport of dry cargo (containers and bulk cargo). Most of the logic that is presented is applicable to the design of river vessels for any river, but the material that is presented is focused on vessels for the River Danube and its tributaries. The term 'contemporary river vessel' assumes that the present-day technology and current Danube river infrastructure are taken into consideration in its design. It is believed that the technologies and concepts that are proposed here are applicable for all new vessel designs for the next 10 to 15 years. Other innovative technologies should be considered for designs beyond that horizon. Moreover, nowadays contemporary IW vessel must be in harmony with the Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) policies and hence special attention is paid to both ecology and efficiency. Note however that shipowners and ship operators usually tend to choose the conventional cost-effective transport technologies. Given that potential divergence of interests, the concepts and technologies treated here may be regarded as innovative.

This book provides applications of machine learning in healthcare systems and seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine. It will combine the design and problem-solving skills of engineering with health sciences, in order to advance healthcare treatment. The book will include areas such as diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy. The book will provide real-world case studies, gives a detailed exploration of applications in healthcare systems, offers multiple perspectives on a variety of disciplines, while also letting the reader know how to avoid some of the consequences of old methods with data sharing. The book can be used as a reference for practitioners, researchers and for students at basic and intermediary levels in Computer Science, Electronics and Communications.