This e-book is a suitable reference on the technical and scientific competence related to effective application and integration of cool materials in the built environment. The e-book is an overview on the following: </p><p> • The role of cool materials in the built environment. </p><p> • Major cool materials techniques and their benefits and drawbacks. </p><p> • Research trends in cool materials for the built environment. </p><p> • Technical guidelines for instrumentation, testing and rating of cool materials. </p><p> • Policy and economic aspects of cool materials necessary for the management of built environments. </p><p> • Case studies where the cool materials are implemented.

The book aims to provide a deeper understanding of the synergistic impact of Artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) for disease detection. It presents a collection of topics designed to explain methods to detect different diseases in humans and plants. Chapters are edited by experts in IT and machine learning, and are structured to make the volume accessible to a wide range of readers. Key Features: - 17 Chapters present information about the applications of AI and IoT in clinical medicine and plant biology - Provides examples of algorithms for heart diseases, Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease, cancer, pneumonia and more - Includes techniques to detect plant disease - Includes information about the application of machine learning in specific imaging modalities - Highlights the use of a variety of advanced Deep learning techniques like Mask R-CNN - Each chapter provides an introduction and literature review and the relevant protocols to follow The book is an informative guide for data and computer scientists working to improve disease detection techniques in medical and life sciences research. It also serves as a reference for engineers working in the healthcare delivery sector.

Present day mechatronic systems are designed with synergistic integration of mechanics, electronics and computer technology to produce intelligent devices for the purpose of solving real-world problems. Crucial requirements for a mechatronic system are robustness and fault tolerance, i.e. it should have the ability to process incomplete, imprecise or uncertain information. Such systems often have to work in collaborative environments while being subjected to adverse conditions yet adhering to strict safety standards. This e-book explains the fundamentals of designing such systems from the first principles and how to embed intelligence into them. Examples in this volume are not restricted to production lines, but extend to extreme safety based systems such as space and underwater robotics, autonomous transportation systems, aviation systems and medical robots. Moreover, this e-book also presents recent developments in the design of innovative and intelligent mechatronic systems, applied to robotics and transportation systems, thereby providing an authoritative support for researchers and professionals having basic knowledge in mechatronics.

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing is the construction of an object using CAD models. The technology for additive manufacturing s gaining traction in recent times due to its accessibility for both personal and industrial use, as well as its usefulness in quick prototyping (either of a whole object or its components) and meeting the needs of small commercial workloads. Advances in Additive Manufacturing Processes informs readers about the breadth of 3D printing processes. Chapters cover the basic knowledge of additive techniques and their industrial applications with relevant examples. The improvements in each method and their recent technical achievements with practical experimental data are highlighted. The book presents eight types of 3D printing processes, covering a diverse range of technologies which represent the industry. The contents also cover selected topics of relevance to additive manufacturing which include the formation of defects and factors that affect the mechanical properties of the additively manufactured components. Chapters also provide recent guidelines for adapting additive manufacturing processes to increase productivity and reduce manufacturing cost. Advances in Additive Manufacturing Processes is a handy reference for scholars and professionals involved in manufacturing industries and process engineering as well as hobbyists who are interested in the current state-of-the-art in 3D printing.

It is well known that Intersymbol (ISI) Interference is a limiting factor in many communication environments where it causes an irreducible degradation of the bit error rate (BER) thus imposing an upper limit on the data symbol rate. In order to overcome the ISI problem, an equalizer is implemented in those systems. Among the three types of equalizers - non-blind, semi-blind and blind &ndash; the blind equalizer has the benefit of bandwidth saving and there is no need of going through a training phase. Blind equalization algorithms are essentially adaptive filtering algorithms designed such that they do not require the external supply of a desired response to generate the error signal in the output of the adaptive equalization filter. The algorithms generate an estimate of the desired response by applying a nonlinear transformation to sequences involved in the adaptation process. This nonlinearity is designed to minimize a cost function that is implicitly based on higher order statistics (HOS) according to one approach, or calculated directly according to the Bayes rules. The Whole Story behind Blind Adaptive Equalizers/ Blind Deconvolution gives the readers a full understanding on blind deconvolution. The e-book covers a variety of blind deconvolution/equalization methods based on both cost functions and Bayes rules where simulation results are supplied to support the theory. These include the Maximum Entropy density approximation technique and the Edgeworth Expansion approach used in various blind equalizers. It also describes the relationship between the cost function approach and the approach taken according to Bayes rules. The e-book deals also with the effect of various system parameters (such as the step-size parameter or the equalizer's tap length) have on the obtained equalization performance. This e-book will be of particular interest to advanced communications engineering undergraduate students, graduate students, university instructors and signal processing researchers.

This book deals with the methods of theoretical and experimental research of antennas, which are based on the electromagnetic (EM) theory. The theory of thin antennas explains antenna analysis, as thin antennas represent one of the main types of radiators and are extensively applied as both independent antennas and as elements of more complicated antennas.

The contents of the book cover new methods of antenna analysis and design, including the theory of electrically coupled lines, the methods of complex potential, compensation, impedance line, and mathematical programming among others. New results from these experiments are also detailed. The complex potential method is generalized to inhomogeneous media and is employed in conical and parabolic problems. The theory of electrically coupled lines allows considering theoretical problems of multi-conductor cables and multi-radiator antennas. The compensation method permits creating a weak field area in the near region of a transmitting antenna. The method of impedance line is applied to antennas with loads, and the method of mathematical programming deals with selecting loads to develop antennas with the required characteristics.

The methods described within this text enable engineers to calculate parameters for new types of antennas, particularly, the self-complementary antennas. In the general case, similar properties pertain to the three-dimensional self-complementary antennas, their variants are also considered in the book. Close attention is also paid to the field compensation in the near region of a transmitting antenna and to the creation of the ‘dark spot’.

The book is an essential reference for graduates and researchers requiring knowledge on the design and engineering of new antennas as well as the underlying electromagnetic and mathematical principles.

This e-book provides several state-of-the-art analog circuit design techniques. It presents both empirical and theoretical materials for system-on-a-chip (SOC) circuit design. Fundamental communication concepts are used to explain a variety of topics including data conversion (ADC, DAC, &Sigma;-&Delta; oversampling data converters), clock data recovery, phase-locked loops for system timing synthesis, supply voltage regulation, power amplifier design, and mixer design. This is an excellent reference book for both circuit designers and researchers who are interested in the field of design of analog communication circuits for SOC applications.

The Sustainable Renovation of Buildings and Neighborhoods is a collection of papers presented at the International Congress of Sustainable Construction and Eco‐efficient Solutions. This event has established itself as a forum for meeting academics from around the word, researchers and professionals of the construction sector, in which environmental information is shared with a multidisciplinary context, and which involves participants from different areas of the construction process. The congress brings together development proposals through a shared vision of environmental sustainability and presents alternative solutions to problems through technical presentations and trainings, in order to minimize the environmental impact caused by the construction sector. This monograph celebrates the event’s second international edition and its fourth national edition. The volume contains selected articles written by the participants. Readers will find information about interesting, new developments and concepts on • Energy retrofitting in older buildings • Tools to determine and measure environmental impact and sustainability indicators • Economic / cost based revaluation of buildings through the viability of eco‐efficient solutions • Reduction of the consumption of material and energy resources and in CO2 emissions • Sustainability research based on the renovation of urban areas. The studies in this book provide real examples from different countries (Argentina and Spain, for example). The Sustainable Renovation of Buildings and Neighborhoods is a useful reference for researchers and professional architects involved in sustainable development, environmental rehabilitation and the construction industry.

Considerable effort and money are devoted to developing alternative energy sources, such as wind power, solar power, cellulosic ethanol, and biofuels. This ebook is a collection of research papers on alternative energy sources presented at the Economics of Alternative Energy Sources and Globalization: The Road Ahead Conference that was held in November 2009 in Orlando, Florida. Thirty-three papers were presented by leading experts in the field, with about half being published in the e-book. Several of the papers explored the economics of biofuels produced from corn, sugarcane, and/or forestry materials. Two of the papers addressed the link between biofuel production and U.S. agricultural policy, and how biofuels could reduce U.S. Treasury costs even though biofuels increase food prices. International subsidies promote alternative fuel production (e.g., Brazil). This ebook should be a very useful resource for readers interested in alternative energy research and related economic policy.

I joined NEC in 1968 and was assigned to the circuit development department of the computer division. My first work was the circuit design of the switching mode power supply (SMPS) for the mainframe of the computer system. My job area was expanded to development of the design rule and to standardization of all over the electric and electronics parts for the non-logic circuit. Non-logic circuit was categorized to except the gate-array which forms the logic circuit of the mainframe. The experiment of SMPS was considered to be dangerousness and no one wanted to design. Therefore, my development of the power supply system (PSS) including the circuit design of SMPS was continued. The electric current of the mainframe and the supercomputer was reached to several thousand amperes. The critical problem of PSS was the heat dissipation and the electromagnetic interference (EMI) against the logic circuit. In 1992, the full-scale R&D of EMC became necessary hastily. I was nominated and transferred to the chief managing researcher of the established EMC engineering center in NEC Laboratories. I had believed that the switching mode circuit (SMC) including the digital circuit and SMPS circuit will be improved greatly if the EMC problem is solved. However the deep R&D was difficult because the actual fruits in every year were required strongly. Therefore, his knowledge of the science concerning EMC was not deepened enough. However I could understand the actual status of technologies of the electronics and electrics widely and the basic knowledge about how to approach the science as well as R&D could be learned. During this time, I completed PhD course and received the PhD. degree from Kyushu University, lectured in Kyushu University and Tohoku University for one year each, and executed several national projects by the cooperation of his colleague in NEC and of the supporters in the industrial society and academia. These are considered to be my best harvest in NEC Laboratories. I had decided to continue R&D for solving EMC problem of SMC after his retirement and to try the commercialization of the fruit of R&D. I established ICAST which is the abbreviation of the innovative circuit and system technologies in 2005. The solitary electromagnetic (SEMW) theory was advocated and the novel technologies including the low impedance lossy line (LILL) and the matched impedance lossy line (MILL) were invented based on the SEMW theory.

Two purposes exist in this eBook. The first is to be validated the SEMW theory by the academia and the industrial society. The second is the contribution to the growth of the industry in the world by the technologies of LILL and MILL.