springer london apr 2013 (88 risultati)

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The impact on modern society made by the Internet is immeasurable. Yet some questioned ¿why anyone would want such a thing¿ when the idea was first introduced.Part history, part memoir and part cultural study, Network Geeks charts the creation of the Internet and the establishment of the Internet Engineering Task Force, from the viewpoint of a self-proclaimed geek who witnessed these developments first-hand. With boundless enthusiasm and abundant humour, Brian Carpenter leads the reader on a journey from post-war Britain to post-millennium New Zealand, describing how the Internet grew into today¿s ubiquitous, global network, including the genesis of the World-Wide Web in the hotbeds of a particle collider at CERN. Illuminating the science and technology behind the apparent ¿magic trick¿ of the Internet, Network Geeks opens a window into the initially bewildering world of the Internet engineering geek. After reading this book, you may wish to join this world yourself.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 172 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Commanding and controlling organizations in extreme situations is a challenging task in military, intelligence, and disaster management. Such command and control must be quick, effective, and considerate when dealing with the changing, complex, and risky conditions of the situation. To enable optimal command and control under extremes, robust structures and efficient operations are required of organizations. This work discusses how to design and conduct virtual experiments on resilient organizational structures and operational practices using modeling and simulation. The work illustrates key aspects of robustly networked organizations and modeled performance of human decision-makers through examples of naval-air defense, counterterrorism operations, and disaster responses.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 100 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -A powerful new image presentation technique has evolved over the last twenty years, and its value demonstrated through its support of many and varied common tasks. Conceptually, Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) is basically simple, exemplified in the physical world by the rapid riffling of the pages of a book in order to locate a known image.Advances in computation and graphics processing allow RSVP to be applied flexibly and effectively to a huge variety of common tasks such as window shopping, video fast-forward and rewind, TV channel selection and product browsing. At its heart is a remarkable feature of the human visual processing system known as pre-attentive processing, one which supports the recognition of a known image within as little as one hundred milliseconds and without conscious cognitive effort.Knowledge of pre-attentive processing, together with extensive empirical evidence concerning RSVP, has allowed the authors to provide useful guidance to interaction designers wishing to explore the relevance of RSVP to an application, guidance which is supported by a variety of illustrative examples.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 124 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -In cryptography, ciphers is the technical term for encryption and decryption algorithms. They are an important sub-family that features high speed and easy implementation and are an essential part of wireless internet and mobile phones.Unlike block ciphers, stream ciphers work on single bits or single words and need to maintain an internal state to change the cipher at each step. Typically stream ciphers can reach higher speeds than block ciphers but they can be more vulnerable to attack. Here, mathematics comes into play. Number theory, algebra and statistics are the key to a better understanding of stream ciphers and essential for an informed decision on their safety.Since the theory is less developed, stream ciphers are often skipped in books on cryptography. This book fills this gap. It covers the mathematics of stream ciphers and its history, and also discusses many modern examples and their robustness against attacks.Part I covers linear feedback shift registers, non-linear combinations of LFSRs, algebraic attacks and irregular clocked shift registers. Part II studies some special ciphers including the security of mobile phones, RC4 and related ciphers, the eStream project and the blum-blum-shub generator and related ciphers.Stream Ciphers requires basic knowledge of algebra and linear algebra, combinatorics and probability theory and programming. Appendices in Part III help the reader with the more complicated subjects and provides the mathematical background needed. It covers, for example, complexity, number theory, finite fields, statistics, combinatorics. Stream Ciphers concludes with exercises and solutions and is directedtowards advanced undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics and computer science.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 420 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Nuclear Medicine is a diagnostic modality which aims to image and in some cases quantify physiological processes in the body to highlight disease or injury. Within nuclear medicine, over the past few decades, major technological changes have occurred and concomitantly changes in the knowledge and skills required have had to evolve. One of the most significant technological changes has been the fusion of imaging technologies, to create hybrid systems such as SPECT/CT, PET/CT and PET/MR. With these changes in mind, Practical SPECT/CT in Nuclear Medicine provides a handy and informative guide to the purchase, clinical implementation and routine use of a SPECT/CT scanner. Practical SPECT/CT in Nuclear Medicine will be a valuable resource for all personnel working in nuclear medicine and it will be of particular value to trainees.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 368 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Though the game-theoretic approach has been vastly studied and utilized in relation to economics of industrial organizations, it has hardly been used to tackle safety management in multi-plant chemical industrial settings. Using Game Theory for Improving Safety within Chemical Industrial Parks presents an in-depth discussion of game-theoretic modeling which may be applied to improve cross-company prevention and -safety management in a chemical industrial park.By systematically analyzing game-theoretic models and approaches in relation to managing safety in chemical industrial parks, Using Game Theory for Improving Safety within Chemical Industrial Parks explores the ways game theory can predict the outcome of complex strategic investment decision making processes involving several adjacent chemical plants. A number of game-theoretic decision models are discussed to provide strategic tools for decision-making situations.Offering clear and straightforward explanations of methodologies, Using Game Theory for Improving Safety within Chemical Industrial Parks provides managers and management teams with approaches to asses situations and to improve strategic safety- and prevention arrangements.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 136 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book presents the latest research on Software Engineering Frameworks for the Cloud Computing Paradigm, drawn from an international selection of researchers and practitioners. The book offers both a discussion of relevant software engineering approaches and practical guidance on enterprise-wide software deployment in the cloud environment, together with real-world case studies. Features: presents the state of the art in software engineering approaches for developing cloud-suitable applications; discusses the impact of the cloud computing paradigm on software engineering; offers guidance and best practices for students and practitioners; examines the stages of the software development lifecycle, with a focus on the requirements engineering and testing of cloud-based applications; reviews the efficiency and performance of cloud-based applications; explores feature-driven and cloud-aided software design; provides relevant theoretical frameworks, practical approaches and future research directions.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 384 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Risk management is often complicated by situational uncertainties and the subjective preferences of decision makers. Fuzzy Hierarchical Model for Risk Assessment introduces a fuzzy-based hierarchical approach to solve risk management problems considering both qualitative and quantitative criteria to tackle imprecise information.This approach is illustrated through number of case studies using examples from the food, fashion and electronics sectors to cover a range of applications including supply chain management, green product design and green initiatives. These practical examples explore how this method can be adapted and fine tuned to fit other industries as well.Supported by an extensive literature review, Fuzzy Hierarchical Model for Risk Assessment comprehensively introduces a new method for project managers across all industries as well as researchers in risk management.this area.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 180 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This short, pithy book ¿ addressed to primary care physicians, will also be invaluable to those studying urology, prior to taking any professional exam. Urological problems are so common as to represent a significant burden for many care physicians and GPs in their everyday practice worldwide. A major concern is how far to go themselves in the diagnosis and treatment of a urological diseases and when to refer the patient for specialist care. Problem Based Urology will provide an easy and user friendly tool to help in decision making on the main urological problems and the most appropriate timing for referral to specialist care. Within each chapter, one or more flow charts will help the reader, step-by-step, to formulate the most likely diagnosis on the basis of findings from medical history, examination and investigations and to start an appropriate first line treatment or to refer the patient to the specialist where appropriate. Each step of the flow chart will be explained in legends consecutively numbered at the bottom of the flow chart diagram. Besides, each chapter will be enriched with tables reporting the most common diseases to be accounted in the differential diagnosis, treatment choices manageable by the primary care physician or GP.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 256 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Optimal Control of Hybrid Vehicles provides a description of power train control for hybrid vehicles. The background, environmental motivation and control challenges associated with hybrid vehicles are introduced. The text includes mathematical models for all relevant components in the hybrid power train. The power split problem in hybrid power trains is formally described and several numerical solutions detailed, including dynamic programming and a novel solution for state-constrained optimal control problems based on the maximum principle.Real-time-implementable strategies that can approximate the optimal solution closely are dealt with in depth. Several approaches are discussed and compared, including a state-of-the-art strategy which is adaptive for vehicle conditions like velocity and mass.Three case studies are included in the book:¿ a control strategy for a micro-hybrid power train;¿ experimental results obtained with a real-time strategy implemented in a hybrid electric truck; and¿ an analysis of the optimal component sizes for a hybrid power train.Optimal Control of Hybrid Vehicles will appeal to academic researchers and graduate students interested in hybrid vehicle control or in the applications of optimal control. Practitioners working in the design of control systems for the automotive industry will also find the ideas propounded in this book of interest.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 160 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -In an age of increasing complexity, diversification and change, customers expect services that cater to their needs and to their tastes. Emotional Engineering vol 2. describes how their expectations can be satisfied and managed throughout the product life cycle, if producers focus their attention more on emotion. Emotional engineering provides the means to integrate products to create a new social framework and develops services beyond product realization to create of value across a full lifetime.14 chapters cover a wide range of topics that can be applied to product, process and industry development, with special attention paid to the increasing importance of sensing in the age of extensive and frequent changes, including:Multisensory stimulation and user experiencePhysiological measurementTactile sensationEmotional quality managementMental modelKansei engineering.Emotional Engineering vol 2 builds on Dr Fukudäs previous book, Emotional Engineering, and provides readers with a holistic view of its research and applications, enabling them to make strategic decisions on how they can go further beyond product realization. It is recommended for all pioneers in industry, academia and government, who are making tremendous efforts to work with their customers to create value.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 252 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Economic Modeling Using Artificial Intelligence Methods examines the application of artificial intelligence methods to model economic data. Traditionally, economic modeling has been modeled in the linear domain where the principles of superposition are valid. The application of artificial intelligence for economic modeling allows for a flexible multi-order non-linear modeling. In addition, game theory has largely been applied in economic modeling. However, the inherent limitation of game theory when dealing with many player games encourages the use of multi-agent systems for modeling economic phenomena.The artificial intelligence techniques used to model economic data include:multi-layer perceptron neural networksradial basis functionssupport vector machinesrough setsgenetic algorithmparticle swarm optimizationsimulated annealingmulti-agent systemincremental learningfuzzy networksSignal processing techniques are explored to analyze economic data, and these techniques are the time domain methods, time-frequency domain methods and fractals dimension approaches. Interesting economic problems such as causality versus correlation, simulating the stock market, modeling and controling inflation, option pricing, modeling economic growth as well as portfolio optimization are examined. The relationship between economic dependency and interstate conflict is explored, and knowledge on how economics is useful to foster peace ¿ and vice versa ¿ is investigated. Economic Modeling Using Artificial Intelligence Methods deals with the issue of causality in the non-linear domain and applies the automatic relevance determination, the evidence framework, Bayesian approach and Granger causality to understand causality and correlation.Economic Modeling Using Artificial Intelligence Methods makes an important contribution to the area of econometrics,and is a valuable source of reference for graduate students, researchers and financial practitioners.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 280 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Developing a successful game in today¿s market is a challenging endeavor. Thousands of titles are published yearly, all competing for players¿ time and attention. Game analytics has emerged in the past few years as one of the main resources for ensuring game quality, maximizing success, understanding player behavior and enhancing the quality of the player experience. It has led to a paradigm shift in the development and design strategies of digital games, bringing data-driven intelligence practices into the fray for informing decision making at operational, tactical and strategic levels.Game Analytics - Maximizing the Value of Player Data is the first book on the topic of game analytics; the process of discovering and communicating patterns in data towards evaluating and driving action, improving performance and solving problems in game development and game research. Written by over 50 international experts from industry and research, it covers a comprehensive range of topics across more than 30 chapters, providing an in-depth discussion of game analytics and its practical applications.Topics covered include monetization strategies, design of telemetry systems, analytics for iterative production, game data mining and big data in game development, spatial analytics, visualization and reporting of analysis, player behavior analysis, quantitative user testing and game user research. This state-of-the-art volume is an essential source of reference for game developers and researchers.Key takeaways include:Thorough introduction to game analytics; covering analytics applied to data on players, processes and performance throughout the game lifecycle.In-depth coverage and advice on setting up analytics systems and developing good practices for integrating analytics in game-development and -management.Contributions by leading researchers and experienced professionals from the industry, includingUbisoft, Sony, EA, Bioware, Square Enix, THQ, Volition, and PlayableGames.Interviews with experienced industry professionals on how they use analytics to create hit games.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 820 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Focusing on shocks modeling, burn-in and heterogeneous populations, Stochastic Modeling for Reliability naturally combines these three topics in the unified stochastic framework and presents numerous practical examples that illustrate recent theoretical findings of the authors.The populations of manufactured items in industry are usually heterogeneous. However, the conventional reliability analysis is performed under the implicit assumption of homogeneity, which can result in distortion of the corresponding reliability indices and various misconceptions. Stochastic Modeling for Reliability fills this gap and presents the basics and further developments of reliability theory for heterogeneous populations. Specifically, the authors consider burn-in as a method of elimination of ¿weak¿ items from heterogeneous populations. The real life objects are operating in a changing environment. One of the ways to model an impact of this environment is via the external shocks occurring in accordance with some stochastic point processes. The basic theory for Poisson shock processes is developed and also shocks as a method of burn-in and of the environmental stress screening for manufactured items areconsidered.Stochastic Modeling for Reliability introduces and explores the concept of burn-in in heterogeneous populations and its recent development, providing a sound reference for reliability engineers, applied mathematicians, product managers and manufacturers alike.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 404 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Nutritional Influences on Bone Health presents a collection of papers from the 8th International Symposium on Nutritional Aspects of Osteoporosis, the primary forum for and only regular meeting exclusively devoted to the topic of nutritional influences on bone health. The outcome is a fusion of the most current and up-to-date research in this area. Key themes include the permeation of the Western diet across the globe, calcium, vitamin D and acid-base balance.Written by authorities on the impact of nutrition on bone health, Nutritional Influences on Bone Health brings the reader the emerging trends, new messages and the latest scientific data in the field, to inform future research and clinical practice. This comprehensive, well researched volume is an essential reference for professionals in the field of bone health and nutrition.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 408 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -With the resurgence of nuclear power around the world, and the increasingly important role of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier, the utilization of nuclear energy for large-scale hydrogen production will have a key role in a sustainable energy future. Co-generation of both electricity and hydrogen from nuclear plants will become increasingly attractive. It enables load leveling together with renewable energy and storage of electricity in the form of hydrogen, when electricity prices and demand are lowest at off-peak hours of nuclear plants, such as overnight.Hydrogen Production from Nuclear Energy provides an overview of the latest developments and methods of nuclear based hydrogen production, including electrolysis and thermochemical cycles. Particular focus is given to thermochemical water splitting by the copper-chlorine and sulphur-based cycles. Cycle configurations, equipment design, modeling and implementation issues are presented and discussed. The book provides the reader with an overview of the key enabling technologies towards the design and industrialization of hydrogen plants that are co-located and linked with nuclear plants in the future.The book includes illustrations of technology developments, tables that summarize key features and results, overviews of recent advances and new methods of nuclear hydrogen production. The latest results from leading authorities in the fields will be presented, including efficiencies, costs, equipment design, and modeling.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 508 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Energy audits have multiple goals including reducing energy consumption, managing costs and environmental impact. Improving the energy performance of existing buildings through energy retrofit measures is a great opportunity for developing sustainability in our structures and developing a green building economy. Green Energy Audit of Buildings considers this opportunity with a new and modern interpretation of the classic methodologies.This comprehensive guide to green energy audits integrates energy audit and LEED® methodologies to focus on energy and environment as strategic elements. In addition to these methodologies, Green Energy Audit of Buildings includes 45 check-list for field surveys and97 technical sheets of possible energy retrofit actions that can be applied to existing real-world cases.Covering both the technical and economical points of view, Green Energy Audit of Buildings provides a comprehensive understanding and method for analyzing buildings and facilities in order to promote sustainability. Engineers, architects, energy assessors and mangers in charge of building maintenance will all find this a key reference as well as lecturers, students and researchers looking to develop their understanding of sustainable buildings.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 428 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Written by leading authorities in the field, Chest Pain with Normal Coronary Arteries comprehensively reviews the clinical presentation and the pathogenesis of the condition, as well as its management. This book provides a practical tool for the clinician and a bank of information and new ideas for research scientists and clinical researchers interested in understanding the causes and mechanisms of chest pain with normal coronary arteries. Whether the pain be of gastroenterologic, cardiac or endocrine in origin, the book focuses on effective diagnosis, treatment and management of different pathologies in patients. Chest Pain with Normal Coronary Arteries is an essential read for all clinicians involved in managing patients with chest pain, and those that should be aware of non-cardiac chest pain.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 376 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Fuel cells are one of the most promising clean energy conversion devices that can solve the environmental and energy problems in our society. However, the high platinum loading of fuel cells- and thus their high cost - preventstheir commercialization. Non- or low- platinum electrocatalysts are needed to lower the fuel cell cost.Electrocatalysis in Fuel Cells: A Non and Low Platinum Approach is a comprehensive book summarizing recent advances of electrocatalysis in oxygen reduction and alcohol oxidation, with a particular focus on non- and low-Pt electrocatalysts. All twenty four chapters were written by worldwide experts in their fields. The fundamentals and applications of novel electrocatalysts are discussed thoroughly in the book.The book is geared toward researchers in the field, postgraduate students and lecturers, and scientists and engineers at fuel cell and automotive companies. It can even be a reference book for those who are interested in this area.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 764 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Information engineering and applications is the field of study concerned with constructing information computing, intelligent systems, mathematical models, numerical solution techniques, and using computers and other electronic devices to analyze and solve natural scientific, social scientific and engineering problems.Information engineering is an important underpinning for techniques used in information and computational science and there are many unresolved problems worth studying. The Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Information Engineering and Applications (IEA 2012), which was held in Chongqing, China, from October 26-28, 2012, discusses the most innovative research and developments including technical challenges and social, legal, political, and economic issues.A forum for engineers and scientists in academia, industry, and government, the Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Information Engineering and Applications presents ideas, results, works in progress, and experience in all aspects of information engineering and applications.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 920 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Atlas of Anatomic Pathology with Imaging - A Correlative Diagnostic Companion is a valuable teaching tool for medical students and residents in several specialities such as pathology, radiology, internal medicine, surgery and neurologic sciences. Its need is all the more urgent given the severe shortcuts in the teaching of anatomic pathology following the decrease in the number of autopsies performed. Many of the images shown in the atlas would not be available without performing autopsies and therefore this atlas is an essential for all those in the field.Atlas of Anatomic Pathology with Imaging - A Correlative Diagnostic Companion is the first to combine gross anatomic pictures of diseases with diagnostic imaging. This unique collection of material consisting of over 2000 illustrations complied by experts from around the world is a valuable diagnostic resource for all medical professionals.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 836 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The impact on modern society made by the Internet is immeasurable. Yet some questioned 'why anyone would want such a thing' when the idea was first introduced.Part history, part memoir and part cultural study, Network Geeks charts the creation of the Internet and the establishment of the Internet Engineering Task Force, from the viewpoint of a self-proclaimed geek who witnessed these developments first-hand. With boundless enthusiasm and abundant humour, Brian Carpenter leads the reader on a journey from post-war Britain to post-millennium New Zealand, describing how the Internet grew into today's ubiquitous, global network, including the genesis of the World-Wide Web in the hotbeds of a particle collider at CERN. Illuminating the science and technology behind the apparent 'magic trick' of the Internet, Network Geeks opens a window into the initially bewildering world of the Internet engineering geek. After reading this book, you may wish to join this world yourself. 172 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -A powerful new image presentation technique has evolved over the last twenty years, and its value demonstrated through its support of many and varied common tasks. Conceptually, Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) is basically simple, exemplified in the physical world by the rapid riffling of the pages of a book in order to locate a known image. Advances in computation and graphics processing allow RSVP to be applied flexibly and effectively to a huge variety of common tasks such as window shopping, video fast-forward and rewind, TV channel selection and product browsing. At its heart is a remarkable feature of the human visual processing system known as pre-attentive processing, one which supports the recognition of a known image within as little as one hundred milliseconds and without conscious cognitive effort.Knowledge of pre-attentive processing, together with extensive empirical evidence concerning RSVP, has allowed the authors to provide useful guidance to interaction designers wishing to explore the relevance of RSVP to an application, guidance which is supported by a variety of illustrative examples. 124 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Through the results of a developed case study of information system for low temperature geothermal energy, GIS to Support Cost-effective Decisions on Renewable Sources addresses the issue of the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in evaluating cost-effectiveness of renewable resource exploitation on a regional scale. Focusing on the design of a Decision Support System, a process is presented aimed to transform geographic data into knowledge useful for analysis and decision-making on the economic exploitation of geothermal energy. This detailed description includes a literature review and technical issues related to data collection, data mining, decision analysis for the informative system developed for the case study. A multi-disciplinary approach to GIS design is presented which is also an innovative example of fusion of georeferenced data acquired from multiple sources including remote sensing, networks of sensors and socio-economic censuses. GIS to Support Cost-effective Decisions on Renewable Sources is a useful, practical reference for engineers, managers and researchers involved in the design of GIS, decision support systems, investment planning/strategy in renewable energy and ICT innovation in this field. 96 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This extensively revised and updated new edition of Specification of Software Systems builds upon the original focus on software specification with added emphasis on the practice of formal methods for specification and verification activities for different types of software systems and at different stages of developing software systems. Topics and features: provides a wide coverage of formal specification techniques and a clear writing style, supported by end-of-chapter bibliographic notes for further reading; presents a logical structure, with sections devoted to specification fundamentals, basics of formalism, logic, set theory and relations, property-oriented specification methods, and model-based specification techniques; contains end-of-chapter exercises and numerous case studies, with potential course outlines suggested in the Preface; covers Object-Z, B-Method, and Calculus of Communicating Systems; offers material that can be taught with tool-supported laboratory projects. 672 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Faults are a concern for Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) designers, especially if the MAS are built for industrial or military use because there must be some guarantee of dependability. Some fault classification exists for classical systems, and is used to define faults. When dependability is at stake, such fault classification may be used from the beginning of the system's conception to define fault classes and specify which types of faults are expected. Thus, one may want to use fault classification for MAS; however, From Fault Classification to Fault Tolerance for Multi-Agent Systems argues that working with autonomous and proactive agents implies a special analysis of the faults potentially occurring in the system. Moreover, the field of Fault Tolerance (FT) provides numerous methods adapted to handle different kinds of faults. Some handling methods have been studied within the MAS domain, adapting to their specificities and capabilities but increasing the large amount of FT methods. Therefore, unless being an expert in fault tolerance, it is difficult to choose, evaluate or compare fault tolerance methods, preventing a lot of developed applications from not only to being more pleasant to use but, more importantly, from at least being tolerant to common faults. From Fault Classification to Fault Tolerance for Multi-Agent Systems shows that specification phase guidelines and fault handler studies can be derived from the fault classification extension made for MAS. From this perspective, fault classification can become a unifying concept between fault tolerance methods in MAS. 88 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Passivity-based Model Predictive Control for Mobile Vehicle Navigation represents a complete theoretical approach to the adoption of passivity-based model predictive control (MPC) for autonomous vehicle navigation in both indoor and outdoor environments. The brief also introduces analysis of the worst-case scenario that might occur during the task execution. Some of the questions answered in the text include: - how to use an MPC optimization framework for the mobile vehicle navigation approach; - how to guarantee safe task completion even in complex environments including obstacle avoidance and sideslip and rollover avoidance; and - what to expect in the worst-case scenario in which the roughness of the terrain leads the algorithm to generate the longest possible path to the goal. The passivity-based MPC approach provides a framework in which a wide range of complex vehicles can be accommodated to obtain a safer and more realizable tool during the path-planning stage. During task execution, the optimization step is continuously repeated to take into account new local sensor measurements. These ongoing changes make the path generated rather robust in comparison with techniques that fix the entire path prior to task execution. In addition to researchers working in MPC, engineers interested in vehicle path planning for a number of purposes: rescued mission in hazardous environments; humanitarian demining; agriculture; and even planetary exploration, will find this SpringerBrief to be instructive and helpful. 68 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The subject of this brief is the application of linear parameter-varying (LPV) control to a class of dynamic systems to provide a systematic synthesis of gain-scheduling controllers with guaranteed stability and performance. An important step in LPV control design, which is not well covered in the present literature, is the selection of weighting functions. The proper selection of weighting functions tunes the controller to obtain the desired closed-loop response. The selection of appropriate weighting functions is difficult and sometimes appears arbitrary. In this brief, gain-scheduling control with engineering applications is covered in detail, including the LPV modeling, the control problem formulation, and the weighting function optimization. In addition, an iterative algorithm for obtaining optimal output weighting functions with respect to the H2 norm bound is presented in this brief. Using this algorithm, the selection of appropriate weighting functions becomes an automatic process. The LPV design and control synthesis procedures in this brief are illustrated using: - air-to-fuel ratio control for port-fuel-injection engines; - variable valve timing control; and - application to a vibration control problem. After reading this brief, the reader will be able to apply its concepts to design gain-scheduling controllers for their own engineering applications. This brief provides detailed step-by-step LPV modeling and control design strategies along with an automatic weight-selection algorithm so that engineers can apply state-of-the-art LPV control synthesis to solve their own engineering problems. In addition, this brief should serve as a bridge between the H-infinity and H2 control theory and the real-world application of gain-scheduling control. 124 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Commanding and controlling organizations in extreme situations is a challenging task in military, intelligence, and disaster management. Such command and control must be quick, effective, and considerate when dealing with the changing, complex, and risky conditions of the situation. To enable optimal command and control under extremes, robust structures and efficient operations are required of organizations. This work discusses how to design and conduct virtual experiments on resilient organizational structures and operational practices using modeling and simulation. The work illustrates key aspects of robustly networked organizations and modeled performance of human decision-makers through examples of naval-air defense, counterterrorism operations, and disaster responses. 100 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -There is a significant difference between designing a new algorithm, proving its correctness, and teaching it to an audience. When teaching algorithms, the teacher's main goal should be to convey the underlying ideas and to help the students form correct mental models related to the algorithm. This process can often be facilitated by using suitable metaphors. This work provides a set of novel metaphors identified and developed as suitable tools for teaching many of the 'classic textbook' algorithms taught in undergraduate courses worldwide. Each chapter provides exercises and didactic notes for teachers based on the authors' experiences when using the metaphor in a classroom setting. 104 pp. Englisch.