This handbook presents state-of-the-art research in reinforcement learning, focusing on its applications in the control and game theory of dynamic systems and future directions for related research and technology. The contributions gathered in this book deal with challenges faced when using learning and adaptation methods to solve academic and industrial problems, such as optimization in dynamic environments with single and multiple agents, convergence and performance analysis, and online implementation. They explore means by which these difficulties can be solved, and cover a wide range of related topics including: deep learning; artificial intelligence; applications of game theory; mixed modality learning; and multi-agent reinforcement learning. Practicing engineers and scholars in the field of machine learning, game theory, and autonomous control will find the Handbook of Reinforcement Learning and Control to be thought-provoking, instructive and informative.

In 1897 a small landholder named Robert Eastham shot and killed timber magnate Frank Thompson in Tucker County, West Virginia, leading to a sensational trial that highlighted a clash between local traditions and modernizing forces. Ronald L. Lewis's book uses this largely forgotten episode as a window into contests over political, environmental, and legal change in turn-of-the-century Appalachia. The Eastham-Thompson feud pitted a former Confederate against a member of the new business elite who was, as a northern Republican, his cultural and political opposite. For Lewis, their clash was one flashpoint in a larger phenomenon central to US history in the second half of the nineteenth century: the often violent imposition of new commercial and legal regimes over holdout areas stretching from Appalachia to the trans-Missouri West. Taking a ground-level view of these so-called "wars of incorporation," Lewis's powerful microhistory shows just how strongly local communities guarded traditional relationships to natural resources. Modernizers sought to convict Eastham of murder, but juries drawn from the traditionalist population refused to comply. Although the resisters won the courtroom battle, the modernizers eventually won the war for control of the state's timber frontier.

Contemporary life in most large-scale societies is not truly cultural, in the strong sense, but rather merely 'culture-like.' Using a semeiotic phenomenological approach based on the work of philosopher C.S. Peirce, Lewis presents a framework for understanding performative events in any cultural life-world. By revisiting Victor Turner's work on ritual and engaging with those who have built upon his ideas, the book presents a program for making connections between intimate embodied habits and major cultural practices in a given social setting. Beginning with a distinction between special events and everyday life, Lewis examines fundamental event types including play, ritual, work, and carnival.

Cooperative Control of Multi-Agent Systems extends optimal control and adaptive control design methods to multi-agent systems on communication graphs. It develops Riccati design techniques for general linear dynamics for cooperative state feedback design, cooperative observer design, and cooperative dynamic output feedback design. Both continuous-time and discrete-time dynamical multi-agent systems are treated. Optimal cooperative control is introduced and neural adaptive design techniques for multi-agent nonlinear systems with unknown dynamics, which are rarely treated in literature are developed. Results spanning systems with first-, second- and on up to general high-order nonlinear dynamics are presented. Each control methodology proposed is developed by rigorous proofs. All algorithms are justified by simulation examples. The text is self-contained and will serve as an excellent comprehensive source of information for researchers and graduate students working with multi-agent systems.

Manufacturing Systems Control Design details a matrix-based approach to the real-time application of control in discrete-event systems and flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) in particular. The "and/or" algebra in which matrix operations are carried out enables fast and efficient calculations with a minimum of computing power. In addition, the method uses standard task-sequencing and resource-requirements matrices which, if not in use already, can be easily derived with the help of this text. Matrix-based techniques are compared with Petri net and max-plus algebra ideas.

Virtual modeling of complex physical systems has brought a new perspective to the investigation of phenomena in FMS. The software discussed in this book(and downloadable from the authorsa (TM) website at http: //flrcg.rasip.fer.hr/) supplies the reader with a graphical user interface that can do many things to make the design and control of FMS easier.

The examples presented herein tackle the real-world problems faced by engineers trying to put into practice methods developed in academia, bringing together catholic experience of sensors, control systems, robotics, industrial automation, simulation, agile assembly and supply chains. Common concerns confronted include:

a [ predictability: issues of control system modeling and analysis are addressed;

a [ producibility: by looking at the design and synthesis of cellular workcells;

a [ productivity: in terms of dynamic sensing and control.

Covering all the steps from identification of operations and resources through modeling of the system and simulation of its dynamics in a virtual environment to the transformation of those models into real-worldalgorithms, this monograph is a sound practical basis for the design of controllers for manufacturing systems. It will interest both the academic and practising control or manufacturing engineer wishing to enhance the control of flexible systems and operations researchers looking at manufacturing performance. The end-of-chapter exercises provided and the easy-to-read introduction to the subject will also suit the final-year undergraduate and the beginning graduate in these disciplines.

Designed to introduce students to key concepts and methods in sociology and to engage them in critical thinking, Ten Lessons in Introductory Sociology provides a brief and valuable overview to four major questions that guide the discipline: * Why sociology? * What unites us? * What divides us? * How do societies change? Deftly balancing breadth and depth, the book makes the study of sociology accessible, relevant, and meaningful. Contextualizing the most important issues, Ten Lessons helps students discover "the sociological imagination" and what it means to be part of an engaged public discourse.

A complete reference to adaptive control of systems with nonsmooth industrial nonlinearities such as:- backlash- dead-zones- component failure- friction- hysteresis- saturation- time delays. These nonlinearities in industrial actuators cause severe problems in the motion control of industrial processes, particularly in view of modern requirements of speed and precision of movement such as occur in semiconductor manufacturing, precision machining, and elsewhere. Actuator nonlinearities are ubiquitous in engineering practice and limit control system performance. While standard feedback control alone cannot handle these nonsmooth nonlinearities effectively, this book, with unified and systematic adaptive design methods developed in 16 chapters, shows how such nonlinear characteristics can be effectively compensated for by using adaptive and intelligent control techniques. This allows desired system performance to be achieved in the presence of uncertain nonlinearities. With extensive surveys of literature and comprehensive summaries of various design methods, the authors of the book chapters, who are experts in their areas of interest, present new solutions to some important issues in adaptive control of systems with various sorts of nonsmooth nonlinearities.In addition to providing solutions, the book is also aimed at motivating more research activities in the important field of adaptive control of nonsmooth nonlinear industrial systems by formulating several challenging open problems in related areas.

Full color, high quality reprint of 1980 study.

Responding to the growing need for tried-and-trusted solutions to the reproductive health care issues confronting millions of women worldwide, Obstetrics and Gynecology in Low-Resource Settings provides practical guidelines for ensuring the delivery of quality OB/GYN care to women in resource-poor countries. Including contributions from leading clinicians and researchers in the field, this welcome overview fills an important gap in existing medical literature on women's health care and will be an invaluable resource for doctors, clinicians, and medical students at all stages of their careers who work in the global health arena. The reproductive health risks that all women face are greatly exacerbated when health care facilities are inadequate, equipment and medications are in short supply, and well-trained medical staff are few and far away. Often in these settings, the sole doctor or medical professional on hand has expertise in some areas of women's reproductive care but needs a refresher course in others. This informative guide features hands-on, step-by-step instruction for the most pertinent OB/GYN conditions-both acute and chronic-that health care workers in the field confront. The authors examine a wide range of topics, including: strategies to reduce maternal mortality and stillbirths; infectious and sexually transmitted diseases, including malaria and HIV; cervical cancer; contraception; prenatal, delivery, and newborn care; and complications arising from gender-based violence and female genital cutting. Published in a convenient format with a durable binding, this reference will be an essential companion to health care providers throughout the world.

The Novels of Zsigmond Moricz in the Context of European Realism is the first English-language monograph on one of Hungary's-and Central Europe's-most important modern authors. Using a thematic approach that privileges literary characters as stand-ins for real human beings, Virginia L. Lewis investigates Moricz's thematization of individual agency in seven realist novels that form the foundation of the author's reputation as a major twentieth-century novelist. Lewis does an outstanding job of showcasing the research results of the many Hungarian scholars who have studied Moricz's narrative output over the past century, while also bringing decidedly new perspectives to the table in introducing the author to an English-speaking audience. Utilizing the theoretical impulses of scholars such as Horst and Ingrid Daemmrich, Margaret Archer, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Ibrahim Taha, among others, Lewis forges a new and productive path in Moricz scholarship, while also making his oeuvre accessible to a global audience. Any reader with an interest in Hungarian and Central European narrative will find this study enormously useful for the revelations it brings regarding Moricz's poignant and brilliant critique of the corrosive influence of commodification and greed on human agency in modern society. "Informed by theory and grounded in a critical understanding of Hungarian social history in the first half of the twentieth century, Lewis's engaging study of the realist novels of Zsigmond Moricz compels readers to think in new ways about questions of human agency amongst Hungary's lower and middle classes as this played out against the backdrop of capitalist transformation and pronounced social conflicts and injustices in the decades leading up to World War II. Skillfully structured around succinct analyses of seven of Moricz's key texts, Lewis's book addresses a sizable gap in the English-language scholarship on one of Hungary's greatest writers, and will be a welcome addition to the libraries of literary scholars and social and intellectual historians alike." -Steven Jobbitt, Associate Professor of Central and Eastern European History, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada

African Americans have long used the military for gaining legitimacy and as the ultimate path to citizenship. Blacks in the Military and Beyond thoughtfully chronicles their tumultuous journey from slavery through the present, extending the ourstory to pre-service, in service and post-service economic considerations as significant factors in determining whether or not serving in the military has advantaged Blacks, and how such mechanisms like the periodic drawing down of forces have impacted Blacks overall. G.L.A. Harris and Evelyn L. Lewis delve into the role of the military as a conduit in helping to create and sustain the Black middle class, challenging the military to be more strategic as to the long term effects of its decisions to be ever mindful of upholding its moral compact with African Americans.

This autobiographical narrative provides a unique personal account of the life of a Volga German under the Bolshevik Revolution and subsequent famine, agricultural collectivization, and Stalinist regime with its persecution of minorities including ethnic Germans in the Soviet Union. The fact that its author, master miller Heinrich Neuwirt (1902-1953), survived as long as he did is a testimony to the resourcefulness, determination to survive, and capacity to endure hardship he evinced as he was repeatedly ensnared in Stalin's net, imprisoned, enslaved, and finally sent to the Russian front in a penal army. Neuwirt only managed to produce his account as a result of finding refuge in West Germany after the war, and although the manuscript made it to Volga German relatives in the United States, nothing came of publication efforts since it was written in German. The value of this manuscript lies in its first-person documentation of Volga German life under Stalin. German professor and literary scholar Virginia L. Lewis has rendered Neuwirt's original German account into faithful English translation.

It has long been the goal of engineers to develop tools that enhance our ability to do work, increase our quality of life, or perform tasks that are either beyond our ability, too hazardous, or too tedious to be left to human efforts. Autonomous mobile robots are the culmination of decades of research and development, and their potential is seemingly unlimited. Roadmap to the Future Serving as the first comprehensive reference on this interdisciplinary technology, Autonomous Mobile Robots: Sensing, Control, Decision Making, and Applications authoritatively addresses the theoretical, technical, and practical aspects of the field. The book examines in detail the key components that form an autonomous mobile robot, from sensors and sensor fusion to modeling and control, map building and path planning, and decision making and autonomy, and to the final integration of these components for diversified applications. Trusted Guidance A duo of accomplished experts leads a team of renowned international researchers and professionals who provide detailed technical reviews and the latest solutions to a variety of important problems. They share hard-won insight into the practical implementation and integration issues involved in developing autonomous and open robotic systems, along with in-depth examples, current and future applications, and extensive illustrations. For anyone involved in researching, designing, or deploying autonomous robotic systems, Autonomous Mobile Robots is the perfect resource.

Gustav Meyrink (1868-1932), best known as the author of The Golem (1915), experimented with the occult in a time rife with occult experimentation. As a seeker of esoteric truth, he practiced and wrote about elements of Western Esotericism-alternative religious movements that pursued methods of tapping into secret spiritual wisdom that helped define the age. In doing so, Meyrink developed his own theories of salvation, which featured yoga as a means to open the door to supernatural and paranormal experience. In this way, his life, as well as his fiction, exemplifies liminality, existence on the margins. The core symbol of this liminal experience is the somnambulist: a figure existing between material and spiritual states of consciousness, having access to both yet belonging to neither. His oeuvre features characters entering trances, wandering the borders between "waking" and "metaphysical" worlds, gaining access to secret truths, and realizing salvation via a unio mystica. Meyrink, therefore, has much to say about the cultural climate of the fin de siecle: by viewing the turn of the twentieth century as a time defined by searches for certitude, by locating Western Esotericism as a meaningful movement of the age, by situating Meyrink on the periphery of social and spiritual spheres, and by identifying the sleepwalker as a seminal figure of the period as well as in Meyrink's work, this study echoes Meyrink's own attempts to find lucidity in the ambiguity of somnambulism.

Bipedal locomotion is among the most difficult challenges in control engineering. Most books treat the subject from a quasi-static perspective, overlooking the hybrid nature of bipedal mechanics. Feedback Control of Dynamic Bipedal Robot Locomotion is the first book to present a comprehensive and mathematically sound treatment of feedback design for achieving stable, agile, and efficient locomotion in bipedal robots. In this unique and groundbreaking treatise, expert authors lead you systematically through every step of the process, including: -Mathematical modeling of walking and running gaits in planar robots -Analysis of periodic orbits in hybrid systems -Design and analysis of feedback systems for achieving stable periodic motions -Algorithms for synthesizing feedback controllers -Detailed simulation examples -Experimental implementations on two bipedal test beds The elegance of the authors' approach is evident in the marriage of control theory and mechanics, uniting control-based presentation and mathematical custom with a mechanics-based approach to the problem and computational rendering. Concrete examples and numerous illustrations complement and clarify the mathematical discussion. A supporting Web site offers links to videos of several experiments along with MATLAB(R) code for several of the models. This one-of-a-kind book builds a solid understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects of truly dynamic locomotion in planar bipedal robots.

School leadership is synonymous with challenge. However, some school leaders face true crises - situations threatening the continuing existence of their school. Leading Schools During Crisis analyzes leadership and behaviors of principals in these extraordinary circumstances. A simultaneously scholarly and practice-oriented book, Leading Schools During Crisis proposes the first school-specific model of defining and analyzing crises. Through authentic case studies, Leading Schools During Crisis offers a detailed theoretical and practical analysis of each crisis and the lessons from it for all school leaders. Highlights of the twelve case studies include: P.S. 234, Manhattan. At nine a.m. on September 11, 2001, the thirty-seven teachers and 650 elementary students of P.S. 234 were twelve hundred feet from Ground Zero. Principal Anna Switzer states, " r]ight when the second plane crashed that's when we knew that it wasn't an accident." George Washington Carver H.S., New Orleans, Louisiana. Principal Vanessa Eugene believed Katrina would be another chapter in New Orleans' long history of near-miss hurricanes. Carver's campus was soon under ten feet of water. Sobrante Park E.S., Oakland, California. Like many schools, Sobrante Park only slowly realized the paradigm shift associated with the No Child Left Behind Act until the fifth year of failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress. "What do you do when all the data is bad?" asked Principal Marco Franco. Platte Canyon H.S, Bailey, Colorado. Principal Brian Krause was approached by a frantic student who reported: "' T]here's a guy in the English classroom with a gun' . . . . I remember thinking, okay, he said guy. He didn't say student or kid or Johnny." Other case studies include the challenges inherent in starting charter schools, discovery of systemic and deliberate grade fraud, rezoning of 95 percent of a elementary school's student population, and leading a school populated by changing and often contentious re"

The authors present algorithms for H2 and H-infinity design for nonlinear systems which provide solution techniques which can be implemented in real systems; neural networks are used to solve the nonlinear control design equations. Constraints on the control actuator inputs are dealt with. Results are proven to give confidence and performance guarantees. The algorithms can be used to obtain practical controllers. Nearly optimal applications to constrained-state and mimimum-time problems are discussed as is discrete-time design for digital controllers. Nonlinear H2/H-infinity Constrained Feedback Control is of importance to control designers working in a variety of industrial systems. Case studies are given and the design of nonlinear control systems of the same caliber as those obtained in recent years using linear optimal and bounded-norm designs is explained. The book will also be of interest to academics and graduate students in control systems as a complete foundation for H2 and H-infinity design.