The quest for a broader reform of the current political regime and for equitable redistribution of Angola's wealth constitutes the most surmountable challenge this country faces since the end of civil war in 2002. State power has become a personalized affair to the extent of perpetuating an entrenched, centralised and overly bureaucratic structure of governance. To understand these dynamics, this book explores the role of the 'public' in post-war Angolan politics. The reality mimics the acti ...
This book assesses the dynamics, challenges and achievements of the development processes of three Portuguese-speaking Small Island Developing States (PSSIDS) - Cabo Verde, São Tome and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste. Important lessons are drawn from those processes, which are relevant for policymakers, as well as for their bilateral and multilateral development partners, including international organizations such as United Nations or the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. To that end, the book includes contributions to the academic literature about SIDS, an area of research that has been significantly overlooked. The conclusions would be of interest to readers as a lead up to the fiftieth anniversary of their independence.
Quantum cosmology has gradually emerged as the focus of devoted research, mostly within the second half of last century. As we entered the 21st century, the subject is still very much alive. The outcome of results and templates for investigation have been enlarged, some very recent and fascinating. Hence this book, where the authors bequeath some of their views, as they believe this current century is the one where quantum cosmology will be fully accomplished.Though some aspects are not discussed (namely, supersymmetry or loop structures), there are perhaps a set of challenges that in the authors' opinion remain, some since the dawn of quantum mechanics and applications to cosmology. Others could have been selected, at the readers' discretion and opinion. The authors put herewith a chart and directions to explore, some of which they have worked on or aimed to work more, in the twilight of their current efforts. Their confidence is that someone will follow in their trails, venturing in discovering the proper answer, by being able to formulate the right questions beforehand. The authors' shared foresight is that such discoveries, from those formulations, will be attained upon endorsing the routes within the challenges herewith indicated.
Rescues the libertarian sentiment of the late 19th century , when addressing the last rebellion in Goiana , Pernambuco province. Paulo Cavalcanti examines how the Pernambuco reacted against the will and the Portuguese rule , and his report addresses the crucial moment in 1871, marked by political crises and the great dissatisfaction with the Portuguese monopoly on trade, which has remained unchanged even after several insurgent movements.
This book will be particularly useful to those interested in multibody simulation (MBS) and the formulation for the dynamics of spatial multibody systems. The main types of coordinates that can be used in the formulation of the equations of motion of constrained multibody systems are described. The multibody system, made of interconnected bodies that undergo large displacements and rotations, is fully defined. Readers will discover how Cartesian coordinates and Euler parameters are utilized and are the supporting structure for all methodologies and dynamic analysis, developed within the multibody systems methodologies. The work also covers the constraint equations associated with the basic kinematic joints, as well as those related to the constraints between two vectors. The formulation of multibody systems adopted here uses the generalized coordinates and the Newton-Euler approach to derive the equations of motion. This formulation results in the establishment of a mixed set of differential and algebraic equations, which are solved in order to predict the dynamic behavior of multibody systems. This approach is very straightforward in terms of assembling the equations of motion and providing all joint reaction forces. The demonstrative examples and discussions of applications are particularly valuable aspects of this book, which builds the reader’s understanding of fundamental concepts.
The massive grasslands of Brazil -- known as the cerrados -- which cover roughly a quarter of its land surface and are among the most threatened regions in South America, have received little media attention. This book brings together leading researchers on the area to produce the first detailed account in English of the natural history and ecology of the cerrado/savanna ecosystem. Given their extent and threatened status, the richness of their flora and fauna, and the lack of familiarity with their unique ecology at the international level, the cerrados are badly in need of this important and timely work.
Published in 2008 and winner of the 2011 Thomas E. Skidmore Prize, Paulo Fontes's Migration and the Making of Industrial São Paulo is a detailed social history of São Paulo's extraordinary urban and industrial expansion. Fontes focuses on those migrants who settled in the suburb of São Miguel Paulista, which grew from 7,000 residents in the 1940s to over 140,000 two decades later. Reconstructing these migrants' everyday lives within a broad social context, Fontes examines the economic conditions that prompted their migration, their creation of an integrated identity and community, and their efforts to gain worker rights. Fontes challenges the stereotypes of Northeasterners as culturally backward, uneducated, violent, and unreliable, instead seeing them as a resourceful population with considerable social and political resolve. Fontes's investigations into Northeastern life in São Miguel Paulista yield a fresh understanding of São Paulo's incredible and difficult growth while outlining how a marginalized population exercised its political agency.
Winner, A Choice Outstanding Academic Book From 1964 until 1985, Brazil was ruled by a military regime that sanctioned the systematic use of torture in dealing with its political opponents. The catalog of what went on during that grim period was originally published in Portuguese as Brasil: Nunca Mais (Brazil: Never Again) in 1985. The volume was based on the official documentation kept by the very military that perpetrated the horrific acts. These extensive documents include military court proceedings of actual trials, secretly photocopied by lawyers associated with the Catholic Church and analyzed by a team of researchers. Their daring project—known as BNM for Brasil: Nunca Mais—compiled more than 2,700 pages of testimony by political prisoners documenting close to three hundred forms of torture. The BNM project proves conclusively that torture was an essential part of the military justice system and that judicial authorities were clearly aware of the use of torture to extract confessions. Still, it took more than a decade after the publication of Brasil: Nunca Mais for the armed forces to admit publicly that such torture had ever taken place. Torture in Brazil, the English version of the book re-edited here, serves as a timely reminder of the role of Brazil's military in past repression.
This is an extraordinarily imaginative attempt to analyze the relations between literature and technique in Brazil from the 1880s to the 1920s. The author suggests that in these relations we can see more clearly the shape of a period that is otherwise usually defined from a literary perspective as pre- or post- something or other, rather than in terms of its own characteristics. One such characteristic is the intense interaction with the new technologies then arising in Brazil, the beginning of the professionalization of writers, and a revision of the concept of literature, redefined as technique. The authors chief concern is to determine what is distinctive about the literary production of the period. Rather than focusing on literatures relations with visual art, with a rising social class, or with the sociopolitical divisions within the educated classes of Brazilian society, the author examines the crônica (a kind of journalistic essay), poetry, and fiction of these decades in terms of their encounter with a burgeoning technological and industrial landscape. This encounter is examined from two perspectives. The first is explicit representation: the portrayal in Brazilian literature of modern artifacts, new means of transformation and communication, and the newborn industries of advertising and commercial publication. The second perspective examines how these close contacts with the technological world came to shape cultural productionthat is, not how literature represents technique, but how literary technique changed as it incorporated procedures characteristic of photography, film, and poster art. This transformation was consistent and concurrent with significant changes taking place in the perceptions and sensibilities of the population of major Brazilian cities, a population increasingly attuned to images, the instant, and technology as all-powerful mediators of the urban landscape, time, and a subjectivity constantly under the threat of extinction.
Neuroimmunology is a rapidly-growing branch of biomedical science that studies of all aspects of the interactions between the immune system and nervous system. It deals with, among other things, the physiological functioning of the neuroimmune system in states of both health and disease; malfunctions of the neuroimmune system in disorders (autoimmune diseases, hypersensitivities, immune deficiency), the physical, chemical and physiological characteristics of the components of the neuroimmune system in vitro, in situ, and in vivo. Despite the brain's status as an immune privileged site, an extensive bi-directional communication takes place between the nervous and the immune system in both health and disease. Immune cells and neuroimmune molecules such as cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors modulate brain function through multiple signalling pathways throughout the lifespan. Immunological, physiological and psychological stressors engage cytokines and other immune molecules as mediators of interactions with neuroendocrine, neuropeptide, and neurotransmitter systems. For example, brain cytokine levels increase following stress exposure, while treatments designed to alleviate stress reverse this effect. This book presents leading research in the field.
This volume is the first book-length treatment of model-based geostatistics. The text is expository, emphasizing statistical methods and applications rather than the underlying mathematical theory. Analyses of datasets from a range of scientific contexts feature prominently, and simulations are used to illustrate theoretical results. Readers can reproduce most of the computational results in the book by using the authors' software package, geoR, whose usage is illustrated in a computation section at the end of each chapter. The book assumes a working knowledge of classical and Bayesian methods of inference, linear models, and generalized linear models.
This textbook provides students and academics with a conceptual understanding of fire behavior and fire effects on people and ecosystems to support effective integrated fire management. Through case studies, interactive spreadsheets programmed with equations and graphics, and clear explanations, the book provides undergraduate, graduate, and professional readers with a straightforward learning path. The authors draw from years of experience in successfully teaching fundamental concepts and applications, synthesizing cutting-edge science, and applying lessons learned from fire practitioners. We discuss fire as part of environmental and human health. Our process-based, comprehensive, and quantitative approach encompasses combustion and heat transfer, and fire effects on people, plants, soils, and animals in forest, grassland, and woodland ecosystems from around the Earth. Case studies and examples link fundamental concepts to local, landscape, and global fire implications, including social-ecological systems. Globally, fire science and integrated fire management have made major strides in the last few decades. Society faces numerous fire-related challenges, including the increasing occurrence of large fires that threaten people and property, smoke that poses a health hazard, and lengthening fire seasons worldwide. Fires are useful to suppress fires, conserve wildlife and habitat, enhance livestock grazing, manage fuels, and in ecological restoration. Understanding fire science is critical to forecasting the implication of global change for fires and their effects. Increasing the positive effects of fire (fuels reduction, enhanced habitat for many plants and animals, ecosystem services increased) while reducing the negative impacts of fires (loss of human lives, smoke and carbon emissions that threaten health, etc.) is part of making fires good servants rather than bad masters.
Despite extensive efforts to understand the overall effect of urban structure on the current patterns of urban mobility, we are still far from a consensual perspective on this complex matter. To help build agreement on the factors influencing travel behaviour, this book discusses the influence of alternative urban structures on sustainable mobility. Bringing together two existing and complementary methods to study the relationship between urban structure and mobility, the authors compare two case studies with distinct urban structures and travel behaviour (Copenhagen and Oporto). Of particular concern is the influence of urban structure factors, namely land use and transport system factors, and motivational factors related to the social, economic and cultural characteristics of the individual traveller. The research presented in this book highlights the relevance of centrality in travel behaviour and in more sustainable travel choices. Different operational forms of the centrality concept are revealed as important: it is shown that more sustainable travel can be influenced by several urban structure factors and that no particular combination is required as long as a certain level of centrality is provided. Finally, the book concludes that urban structure can, on the one hand, constrain and, on the other hand, influence travel choice.
This thesis presents a comprehensive theoretical description of classical and quantum aspects of plasmonics in three and two dimensions, and also in transdimensional systems containing elements with different dimensionalities. It focuses on the theoretical understanding of the salient features of plasmons in nanosystems as well as on the multifaceted aspects of plasmon-enhanced light–matter interactions at the nanometer scale. Special emphasis is given to the modeling of nonclassical behavior across the transition regime bridging the classical and the quantum domains. The research presented in this dissertation provides useful tools for understanding surface plasmons in various two- and three-dimensional nanostructures, as well as quantum mechanical effects in their response and their joint impact on light–matter interactions at the extreme nanoscale. These contributions constitute novel and solid advancements in the research field of plasmonics and nanophotonics that will help guide future experimental investigations in the blossoming field of nanophotonics, and also facilitate the design of the next generation of truly nanoscale nanophotonic devices.
This book reviews various modified gravity models, including those with modifications in the pure gravitational sector; those involving extra fields, that is, scalar-tensor and vector-tensor gravity theories; gravity models with Lorentz symmetry breaking; and nonlocal gravity models. The authors discuss both classical and quantum aspects of these theories. The book is unique in bringing together all the current alternatives to Einstein gravity in one source and serves as an excellent starting point for graduate students and other newcomers seeking an overview. This second edition has been expanded with new results from a variety of approaches including f(R,Q,P) gravity, galileon gravity and massive gravity. Extended discussions of Lorentz-breaking terms and of non-local field theory have been added and a completely new chapter is devoted to models based on non-Riemannian geometry.
An indispensable collection that re-examines what it means to belong in the world. "Where are you from?" The word cosmopolitan was first used as a way of evading exactly this question, when Diogenes the Cynic declared himself a “kosmo-polites,” or citizen of the world. Cosmopolitanism displays two impulses—on the one hand, a detachment from one’s place of origin, while on the other, an assertion of membership in some larger, more compelling collective. Cosmopolitanisms works from the premise that there is more than one kind of cosmopolitanism, a plurality that insists cosmopolitanism can no longer stand as a single ideal against which all smaller loyalties and forms of belonging are judged. Rather, cosmopolitanism can be defined as one of many possible modes of life, thought, and sensibility that are produced when commitments and loyalties are multiple and overlapping. Featuring essays by major thinkers, including Homi Bhabha, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Thomas Bender, Leela Gandhi, Ato Quayson, and David Hollinger, among others, this collection asks what these plural cosmopolitanisms have in common, and how the cosmopolitanisms of the underprivileged might serve the ethical values and political causes that matter to their members. In addition to exploring the philosophy of Kant and the space of the city, this volume focuses on global justice, which asks what cosmopolitanism is good for, and on the global south, which has often been assumed to be an object of cosmopolitan scrutiny, not itself a source or origin of cosmopolitanism. This book gives a new meaning to belonging and its ground-breaking arguments call for deep and necessary discussion and discourse.
Data Science for Business and Decision Making covers both statistics and operations research while most competing textbooks focus on one or the other. As a result, the book more clearly defines the principles of business analytics for those who want to apply quantitative methods in their work. Its emphasis reflects the importance of regression, optimization and simulation for practitioners of business analytics. Each chapter uses a didactic format that is followed by exercises and answers. Freely-accessible datasets enable students and professionals to work with Excel, Stata Statistical Software®, and IBM SPSS Statistics Software®. - Combines statistics and operations research modeling to teach the principles of business analytics - Written for students who want to apply statistics, optimization and multivariate modeling to gain competitive advantages in business - Shows how powerful software packages, such as SPSS and Stata, can create graphical and numerical outputs
This book analyzes several compliant contact force models within the context of multibody dynamics, while also revisiting the main issues associated with fundamental contact mechanics. In particular, it presents various contact force models, from linear to nonlinear, from purely elastic to dissipative, and describes their parameters. Addressing the different numerical methods and algorithms for contact problems in multibody systems, the book describes the gross motion of multibody systems by using a two-dimensional formulation based on the absolute coordinates and employs different contact models to represent contact-impact events. Results for selected planar multibody mechanical systems are presented and utilized to discuss the main assumptions and procedures adopted throughout this work. The material provided here indicates that the prediction of the dynamic behavior of mechanical systems involving contact-impact strongly depends on the choice of contact force model. In short, the book provides a comprehensive resource for the multibody dynamics community and beyond on modeling contact forces and the dynamics of mechanical systems undergoing contact-impact events.
Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is the process of retrieval of images from a database that are similar to a query image, using measures derived from the images themselves, rather than relying on accompanying text or annotation. To achieve CBIR, the contents of the images need to be characterized by quantitative features; the features of the query image are compared with the features of each image in the database and images having high similarity with respect to the query image are retrieved and displayed. CBIR of medical images is a useful tool and could provide radiologists with assistance in the form of a display of relevant past cases. One of the challenging aspects of CBIR is to extract features from the images to represent their visual, diagnostic, or application-specific information content. In this book, methods are presented for preprocessing, segmentation, landmarking, feature extraction, and indexing of mammograms for CBIR. The preprocessing steps include anisotropic diffusion and the Wiener filter to remove noise and perform image enhancement. Techniques are described for segmentation of the breast and fibroglandular disk, including maximum entropy, a moment-preserving method, and Otsu's method. Image processing techniques are described for automatic detection of the nipple and the edge of the pectoral muscle via analysis in the Radon domain. By using the nipple and the pectoral muscle as landmarks, mammograms are divided into their internal, external, upper, and lower parts for further analysis. Methods are presented for feature extraction using texture analysis, shape analysis, granulometric analysis, moments, and statistical measures. The CBIR system presented provides options for retrieval using the Kohonen self-organizing map and the k-nearest-neighbor method. Methods are described for inclusion of expert knowledge to reduce the semantic gap in CBIR, including the query point movement method for relevance feedback (RFb). Analysis of performance is described in terms of precision, recall, and relevance-weighted precision of retrieval. Results of application to a clinical database of mammograms are presented, including the input of expert radiologists into the CBIR and RFb processes. Models are presented for integration of CBIR and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) with a picture archival and communication system (PACS) for efficient workflow in a hospital. Table of Contents: Introduction to Content-based Image Retrieval / Mammography and CAD of Breast Cancer / Segmentation and Landmarking of Mammograms / Feature Extraction and Indexing of Mammograms / Content-based Retrieval of Mammograms / Integration of CBIR and CAD into Radiological Workflow
In this book, the history of the Brazilian Psychiatric Reform is told by one of its main protagonists. In the early 1980s, there were about 80 thousand people admitted to psychiatric hospitals in Brazil, with average lengths of hospital stay of approximately 25 years. The psychiatric reform process that took place in the country was responsible for closing more than 60 thousand beds in mental asylums, most of them characterized by conditions of violence and abandonment. The Brazilian Psychiatric Reform was inspired by the psychosocial care model introduced by psychiatrist Franco Basaglia in Italy and was marked by the broad participation of social movements, such as the anti-asylum movement and other human rights movements. This process gave rise to a model of mental health care based on open-door territorial mental health services, guided by the principle of treatment in liberty, in addition to other strategies of deinstitutionalization. More than a proposal to restructure or modernize the mental health care model, the objective of the Brazilian Psychiatric Reform was the construction of a new social place for the diverse and singular subjective experience of madness. By intending to produce new imaginaries, new social representations and new meanings for these experiences, the Brazilian Psychiatric Reform led to one of the larger experiences of deinstitutionalization in the world and to the large scale implementation of a new model of mental health care in which the old asylum-centric paradigm was replaced by a new democratic psychosocial care model.
This unique work presents one of the most significant organ failure condition – cardiocirculatory shock – and the prominent role of Methylene Blue (MB). Through their extensive experience, the authors’ consider that the lifesaving feature of MB is still underestimated. For this reason they outline key concepts of MB, mentioning essential experimental data, yet focusing mainly on its application in the care of critically ill patients. In an easy-to-read format, the 18 chapters were organized in a didactically structured order, distributed in four parts. The first part introduces the general conceptual aspects and physiology of the endothelium. The second part presents the particularities of endothelial dysfunction in different types of shock. Methylene blue is discussed in detail in the third part. In the fourth part, particular situations of endothelial dysfunction, such as heart surgery and organ transplantation, are described. Additionally, the two complementary subjects of acid-base balance and the therapeutic use of inhaled nitric oxide are mentioned. Finally, looking for therapeutic alternatives for what we classify as "vasoplegic endothelial dysfunction", MB remains promising as an adjuvant to sympathomimetic amines. The combination of three recently proposed concepts may be useful in obtaining better results against the high mortality rates in critically ill patients. These three concepts are "wide-spectrum vasopressors", vasopressor economy strategies, and microcirculation protection against the harmful effects of using high concentrations of amines. This book ́s translational approach will appeal to a variety of readers within the health specialties of medicine, biomedicine, physiotherapy, nursing, odontology, and basic science.
Este pequeno livro não é um curso de astrofísica, tampouco um estudo acadêmico, mas apenas comentários complementares, em linguagem simples, sobre alguns temas já estudados pela astrofísica, trazendo novas interpretações com o objetivo de propiciar novas reflexões, acadêmicas ou não. Discorre sobre a razão de as noites serem escuras, propõe ensaio para a verificação de característica eletromagnética da atração gravitacional (com contraposição ao conceito de deformação do tecido espaço-tempo), apresenta nova explicação do campo magnético terrestre (com contraposição ao conceito de movimentos do manto terrestre), afirmando que somente o movimento de elétrons é capaz de gerar campos magnéticos (movimento de prótons não pode gerá-lo – um desafio que seja comprovado, ou não), explica como se arranjam os campos magnéticos estelares, demonstra ser enganoso o conceito de BIG-BANG, eliminando a necessidade de energia escura, afirmando que o universo não está se expandindo e que, muito menos, o faz de modo acelerado. Conclui que são excepcionalmente singulares as condições de vida no planeta Terra, sendo muitíssimo pouco provável que possa existir vida assemelhada em outros planetas. Sugere que o melhor que se tem a fazer é cuidar desse nosso planeta. Pedro Paulo Prado
Writing a biography about Pessoa is a seemingly impossible task. The great Portuguese poet did not have just one life, but his existence virtually exploded in over a hundred different personalities. Only by placing oneself close to Pessoa, only by becoming almost one with him, is it possible to trace the life of this poet who was himself a multitude. José Paulo Cavalcanti has done such a thing, sewing together a path that runs through Pessoa’s multiple voices and personalities, seamlessly moving in and out of the poet’s work, daily habits and interactions. Following the great success of the Brazilian edition, Fernando Pessoa. A quasi Memoir is the first English translation of the book, and it provides new insights on the complex nature of the Portuguese poet.
Covers performance, reliability, and availability evaluation for computing systems, although the methods may also be applied to other systems Provides a resource for computer performance professionals to support planning, design, configuring, and tuning the performance, reliability, and availability of computing systems Volume 1 includes coverage of fundamental concepts and performance modeling.
The present English textbook is in accordance with the theoretical development of Suggestopedia teaching and its newest development, Desuggestopedia The book reflects the theory of Suggestopedia in its integrity: The global and artistic approaches. Suggestopedia is the only method approved and recommended by UNESCO as being a superior method to any other. It accelerates the learning process several times without stress or fatigue. The Suggestopedic teaching through this book can also produce a variety of positive by-products, such as psychoprophylactic and psychotherapeutic effects. During the Suggestopedic teaching, there is simultaneous activation of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, although in different degrees. Students fell and report pleasant learning while they develop creative memory through logical-emotional and conscious-paraconscious activities in class The author of the textbook, Prof. Paulo Negrete, aka "Teacher John Chapman", has been trained and certified by Dr. Lozanov, the creator of Suggestopedia and the science of Suggestology, and has worked in the field of English teaching through Suggestopedia for many years. He was the pioneer to introduce Suggestopedia in Brazil, in 2000, is the author of books to train teachers in TEFL/TESOL in Suggestopedia, and is the Academic Director of Idiomos Aprendizagem Acelerada in Brazil.
Is the dream of EU endangered? This book reviews classic and modern values and virtues, and uses them in order to rethink Europe’s present politics and its future. The idea of the Republic was born with the political ethics of ancient Greece. The current international crisis obliges Europe to face the mirror of truth: What has become of the European Idea and how fares the European Constitution? It has been a long road from the Greek Politeia to the present lack of values and financial monomania in Europe, who seems to have lost any harmony between the spirit, the soul and the body of her Constitution: the will and values of the people (material constitution), the text of the Lisbon Treaty (formal constitution) and its current political interpretation and action (real constitution), making Europe a two-tier or three-tier club, far from the dream of the founding fathers. Without republican values and virtues, and failing to uphold the European social model, the European Union would devolve into moral, social and democratic bankruptcy.
Torrefaction of Biomass for Energy Applications: From Fundamentals to Industrial Scale explores the processes, technology, end-use, and economics involved in torrefaction at the industrial scale for heat and power generation. Its authors combine their industry experience with their academic expertise to provide a thorough overview of the topic. Starting at feedstock pretreatment, followed by torrefaction processes, the book includes plant design and operation, safety aspects, and case studies focusing on the needs and challenges of the industrial scale. Commercially available technologies are examined and compared, and their economical evaluation and life cycle assessment are covered as well. Attention is also given to non-woody feedstock, alternative applications, derived fuels, recent advances, and expected future developments. For its practical approach, this book is ideal for professionals in the biomass industry, including those in heat and power generation. It is also a useful reference for researchers and graduate students in the area of biomass and biofuels, and for decision makers, policy makers, and analysts in the energy field. - Compares efficiency and performance of different commercially available technologies from the practical aspects of daily operation in an industrial scale plant - Presents a cost analysis of the production, logistics, and storage of torrefied biomass - Includes case studies addressing challenges that may occur in the daily operation in an industrial scale plant - Covers other associated technologies, the densification of torrefied biomass, and non-woody feedstock
The demand for data traffic over mobile communication networks has substantially increased during the last decade. As a result, these mobile broadband devices spend the available spectrum fiercely, requiring the search for new technologies. In transmissions where the channel presents a frequency-selective behavior, multicarrier modulation (MCM) schemes have proven to be more efficient, in terms of spectral usage, than conventional modulations and spread spectrum techniques. The orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is the most popular MCM method, since it not only increases spectral efficiency but also yields simple transceivers. All OFDM-based systems, including the single-carrier with frequency-division equalization (SC-FD), transmit redundancy in order to cope with the problem of interference among symbols. This book presents OFDM-inspired systems that are able to, at most, halve the amount of redundancy used by OFDM systems while keeping the computational complexity comparable. Such systems, herein called memoryless linear time-invariant (LTI) transceivers with reduced redundancy, require low-complexity arithmetical operations and fast algorithms. In addition, whenever the block transmitter and receiver have memory and/or are linear time-varying (LTV), it is possible to reduce the redundancy in the transmission even further, as also discussed in this book. For the transceivers with memory it is possible to eliminate the redundancy at the cost of making the channel equalization more difficult. Moreover, when time-varying block transceivers are also employed, then the amount of redundancy can be as low as a single symbol per block, regardless of the size of the channel memory. With the techniques presented in the book it is possible to address what lies beyond the use of OFDM-related solutions in broadband transmissions. Table of Contents: The Big Picture / Transmultiplexers / OFDM / Memoryless LTI Transceivers with Reduced Redundancy / FIR LTV Transceivers with Reduced Redundancy
This book presents recent developments in advanced biological treatment technologies that are attracting increasing attention or that have a high potential for large-scale application in the near future. It also explores the fundamental principles as well as the applicability of the engineered bioreactors in detail. It describes two of the emerging technologies: membrane bioreactors (MBR) and moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBR), both of which are finding increasing application worldwide thanks to their compactness and high efficiency. It also includes a chapter dedicated to aerobic granular sludge (AGS) technology, and discusses the main features and applications of this promising process, which can simultaneously remove organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus and is considered a breakthrough in biological wastewater treatment. Given the importance of removing nitrogen compounds from wastewater, the latest advances in this area, including new processes for nitrogen removal (e.g. Anammox), are also reviewed. Developments in molecular biology techniques over the last twenty years provide insights into the complex microbial diversity found in biological treatment systems. The final chapter discusses these techniques in detail and presents the state-of-the-art in this field and the opportunities these techniques offer to improve process performance.
This book presents suitable methodologies for the dynamic analysis of multibody mechanical systems with joints. It contains studies and case studies of real and imperfect joints. The book is intended for researchers, engineers, and graduate students in applied and computational mechanics.
How could nanotechnology not perk the interest of any designer, engineer or architect? Exploring the intriguing new approaches to design that nanotechnologies offer, Nanomaterials, Nanotechnologies and Design is set against the sometimes fantastic sounding potential of this technology. Nanotechnology offers product engineers, designers, architects and consumers a vastly enhanced palette of materials and properties, ranging from the profound to the superficial. It is for engineering and design students and professionals who need to understand enough about the subject to apply it with real meaning to their own work. - World-renowned author team address the hot-topic of nanotechnology - The first book to address and explore the impacts and opportunities of nanotech for mainstream designers, engineers and architects - Full colour production and excellent design: guaranteed to appeal to everyone concerned with good design and the use of new materials
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