Search results for ""Author John Wiley"

Textual information in the form of digital documents quickly accumulates to create huge amounts of data. The majority of these documents are unstructured: it is unrestricted text and has not been organized into traditional databases. Processing documents is therefore a perfunctory task, mostly due to a lack of standards. It has thus become extremely difficult to implement automatic text analysis tasks. Automatic Text Summarization (ATS), by condensing the text while maintaining relevant information, can help to process this ever-increasing, difficult-to-handle, mass of information. This book examines the motivations and different algorithms for ATS. The author presents the recent state of the art before describing the main problems of ATS, as well as the difficulties and solutions provided by the community. The book provides recent advances in ATS, as well as current applications and trends. The approaches are statistical, linguistic and symbolic. Several examples are also included in order to clarify the theoretical concepts.

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The aim of this book is to promote interaction between engineering, finance and insurance, as these three domains have many models and methods of solution in common for solving real-life problems. The authors point out the strict inter-relations that exist among the diffusion models used in engineering, finance and insurance. In each of the three fields, the basic diffusion models are presented and their strong similarities are discussed. Analytical, numerical and Monte Carlo simulation methods are explained with a view to applying them to obtain the solutions to the different problems presented in the book. Advanced topics such as nonlinear problems, Lévy processes and semi-Markov models in interactions with the diffusion models are discussed, as well as possible future interactions among engineering, finance and insurance. Contents 1. Diffusion Phenomena and Models.2. Probabilistic Models of Diffusion Processes.3. Solving Partial Differential Equations of Second Order.4. Problems in Finance.5. Basic PDE in Finance.6. Exotic and American Options Pricing Theory.7. Hitting Times for Diffusion Processes and Stochastic Models in Insurance.8. Numerical Methods.9. Advanced Topics in Engineering: Nonlinear Models.10. Lévy Processes.11. Advanced Topics in Insurance: Copula Models and VaR Techniques.12. Advanced Topics in Finance: Semi-Markov Models.13. Monte Carlo Semi-Markov Simulation Methods.

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The humanities and social sciences are interested in the cybersecurity object since its emergence in the security debates, at the beginning of the 2000s. This scientific production is thus still relatively young, but diversified, mobilizing at the same time political science, international relations, sociology , law, information science, security studies, surveillance studies, strategic studies, polemology. There is, however, no actual cybersecurity studies. After two decades of scientific production on this subject, we thought it essential to take stock of the research methods that could be mobilized, imagined and invented by the researchers. The research methodology on the subject "cybersecurity" has, paradoxically, been the subject of relatively few publications to date. This dimension is essential. It is the initial phase by which any researcher, seasoned or young doctoral student, must pass, to define his subject of study, delimit the contours, ask the research questions, and choose the methods of treatment. It is this methodological dimension that our book proposes to treat. The questions the authors were asked to answer were: how can cybersecurity be defined? What disciplines in the humanities and social sciences are studying, and how, cybersecurity? What is the place of pluralism or interdisciplinarity? How are the research topics chosen, the questions defined? How, concretely, to study cybersecurity: tools, methods, theories, organization of research, research fields, data ...? How are discipline-specific theories useful for understanding and studying cybersecurity? Has cybersecurity had an impact on scientific theories?

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The books Fractional Calculus with Applications in Mechanics: Vibrations and Diffusion Processes and Fractional Calculus with Applications in Mechanics: Wave Propagation, Impact and Variational Principles contain various applications of fractional calculus to the fields of classical mechanics. Namely, the books study problems in fields such as viscoelasticity of fractional order, lateral vibrations of a rod of fractional order type, lateral vibrations of a rod positioned on fractional order viscoelastic foundations, diffusion-wave phenomena, heat conduction, wave propagation, forced oscillations of a body attached to a rod, impact and variational principles of a Hamiltonian type. The books will be useful for graduate students in mechanics and applied mathematics, as well as for researchers in these fields. Part 1 of this book presents an introduction to fractional calculus. Chapter 1 briefly gives definitions and notions that are needed later in the book and Chapter 2 presents definitions and some of the properties of fractional integrals and derivatives. Part 2 is the central part of the book. Chapter 3 presents the analysis of waves in fractional viscoelastic materials in infinite and finite spatial domains. In Chapter 4, the problem of oscillations of a translatory moving rigid body, attached to a heavy, or light viscoelastic rod of fractional order type, is studied in detail. In Chapter 5, the authors analyze a specific engineering problem of the impact of a viscoelastic rod against a rigid wall. Finally, in Chapter 6, some results for the optimization of a functional containing fractional derivatives of constant and variable order are presented.

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Discourse is not just a means of expressing thought; it is also an autonomous body, an act through which we aim to achieve a certain effect. Modern linguistics proposes a broader definition of discourse, as a discrete and unique enunciative process, where the speaker or author makes language concrete through speech (in the Saussurian sense), and describes the various acts (oral, illocutionary, perlocutionary) that discourse performs. This book examines discourse, an object of analysis and criticism, from a wide range of perspectives. Among the concepts explored are the contributions of rhetoric in the art of discourse, the evolution of multiple approaches and the main methods of discourse analysis conducted by a variety of researchers. The book deepens our knowledge and understanding of discourse, a concept on which any research related to information and communication can be based.

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In order to enable general understanding and to foster the implementation of necessary support measures in organizations, this book describes the fundamental and conceptual aspects of cyberspace abuse. These aspects are logically and reasonably discussed in the fields related to cybercrime and cyberwarfare. The book illustrates differences between the two fields, perpetrators’ activities, as well as the methods of investigating and fighting against attacks committed by perpetrators operating in cyberspace. The first chapter focuses on the understanding of cybercrime, i.e. the perpetrators, their motives and their organizations. Tools for implementing attacks are also briefly mentioned, however this book is not technical and does not intend to instruct readers about the technical aspects of cybercrime, but rather focuses on managerial views of cybercrime. Other sections of this chapter deal with the protection against attacks, fear, investigation and the cost of cybercrime. Relevant legislation and legal bodies, which are used in cybercrime, are briefly described at the end of the chapter. The second chapter deals with cyberwarfare and explains the difference between classic cybercrime and operations taking place in the modern inter-connected world. It tackles the following questions: who is committing cyberwarfare; who are the victims and who are the perpetrators? Countries which have an important role in cyberwarfare around the world, and the significant efforts being made to combat cyberwarfare on national and international levels, are mentioned. The common points of cybercrime and cyberwarfare, the methods used to protect against them and the vision of the future of cybercrime and cyberwarfare are briefly described at the end of the book. Contents 1. Cybercrime. 2. Cyberwarfare. About the Authors Igor Bernik is Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and Head of the Information Security Lab at the University of Maribor, Slovenia. He has written and contributed towards over 150 scientific articles and conference papers, and co-authored 4 books. His current research interests concern information/cybersecurity, cybercrime, cyberwarfare and cyberterrorism.

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The aim of this book is to understand and describe the martensitic phase transformation and the process of martensite platelet reorientation. These two key elements enable the author to introduce the main features associated with the behavior of shape-memory alloys (SMAs), i.e. the one-way shape-memory effect, pseudo-elasticity, training and recovery. Attention is paid in particular to the thermodynamical frame for solid materials modeling at the macroscopic scale and its applications, as well as to the particular use of such alloys – the simplified calculations for the bending of bars and their torsion. Other chapters are devoted to key topics such as the use of the “crystallographical theory of martensite” for SMA modeling, phenomenological and statistical investigations of SMAs, magneto-thermo-mechanical behavior of magnetic SMAs and the fracture mechanics of SMAs. Case studies are provided on the dimensioning of SMA elements offering the reader an additional useful framework on the subject. Contents 1. Some General Points about SMAs. 2. The World of Shape-memory Alloys. 3. Martensitic Transformation. 4. Thermodynamic Framework for the Modeling of Solid Materials. 5. Use of the “CTM” to Model SMAs. 6. Phenomenological and Statistical Approaches for SMAs. 7. Macroscopic Models with Internal Variables. 8. Design of SMA Elements: Case Studies. 9. Behavior of Magnetic SMAs. 10. Fracture Mechanics of SMAs. 11. General Conclusion. Appendix 1. Intrinsic Properties of Rotation Matrices. Appendix 2. “Twinning Equation” Demonstration. Appendix 3. Calculation of the Parameters a, n and Q from the “Twinning” Equation. Appendix 4. “Twinned” Austenite/Martensite Equation. About the Authors Christian Lexcellent is Emeritus Professor at the École National Supérieure de Mécanique et des Microtechniques de Besançon and a researcher in the Department of Applied Mechanics at FEMTO-ST in France. He is a specialist in the mechanics of materials and phase transition and has taught in the subjects of mechanics of continuum media and shape memory alloys. He is also a member of the International Committee of ESOMAT.

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The author of this book presents a general, robust, and easy-to-use method that can handle many design parameters efficiently. Following an introduction, Chapter 1 presents the general concepts of truss layout optimization, starting from topology optimization where structural component sizes and system connectivity are simultaneously optimized. To fully realize the potential of truss layout optimization for the design of lightweight structures, the consideration of geometrical variables is then introduced. Chapter 2 addresses truss geometry and topology optimization by combining mathematical programming and structural mechanics: the structural properties of the optimal solution are used for devising the novel formulation. To avoid singularities arising in optimal configurations, this approach disaggregates the equilibrium equations and fully integrates their basic elements within the optimization formulation. The resulting tool incorporates elastic and plastic design, stress and displacement constraints, as well as self-weight and multiple loading. The inherent slenderness of lightweight structures requires the study of stability issues. As a remedy, Chapter 3 proposes a conceptually simple but efficient method to include local and nodal stability constraints in the formulation. Several numerical examples illustrate the impact of stability considerations on the optimal design. Finally, the investigation on realistic design problems in Chapter 4 confirms the practical applicability of the proposed method. It is shown how we can generate a range of optimal designs by varying design settings.

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Voice over LTE (Long Term Evolution) presents the mechanisms put in place in 4G mobile networks for the transportation of IP packets containing voice data and telephone signaling, as well as the technologies used to provide a telephone service in the IMS (IP Multimedia Sub-system) network. Despite the difficulty connected to the handover of the 4G network to the 2G/3G network, a telephone communication will not be established on the 4G network. This book analyzes the technologies that have been put in place, such as CSFB (Circuit Service FallBack), an interim solution that enables a mobile connected to the 4G network to receive an alert transmitted by the 2G/3G network. The book also goes on to develop the SIP (Session Information Protocol) on which the telephone signaling transferred by the 4G network is based, the IMS network that provides the service and defines the routing, the SRVCC (Single Radio Voice Call Continuity) mechanism that maintains communication and the TAS (Telephony Application Server) that supplies supplementary services. Contents 1. The EPS Network. 2. The LTE Interface. 3. The CSFB Function. 4. SIP and SDP Protocols. 5. The IMS Network. 6. Telephone Services. 7. The SRVCC Function. About the Authors André Perez is a consultant and teacher in networks and telecommunications. He works with industrialists and operators regarding architecture studies and leads training on the 4G and IMS networks for NEXCOM.

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The design, implementation and validation of avionics and aeronautical systems have become extremely complex tasks due to the increase of functionalities that are deployed in current avionics systems and the need to be able certify them before putting them into production. This book proposes a methodology to enable the rapid prototyping of such a system by considering from the start the certification aspects of the solution produced. This method takes advantage of the model-based design approaches as well as the use of formal methods for the validation of these systems. Furthermore, the use of automatic software code generation tools using models makes it possible to reduce the development phase as well as the final solution testing. This book presents, firstly, an overview of the model-based design approaches such as those used in the field of aeronautical software engineering. Secondly, an original methodology that is perfectly adapted to the field of aeronautical embedded systems is introduced. Finally, the authors illustrate the use of this method using a case study for the design, implementation and testing of a new generation aeronautical router.

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Innovation is a major challenge for economic development and social progress. Faced with the ecological and food problems that the world is currently experiencing, the legitimacy of innovation takes on its full meaning, particularly in developing countries. As emphasized by international organizations (UN, FAO), building skills and abilities in the agricultural and food sectors are necessary when launching innovation processes for the benefit of suffering populations. This book deals with different experiences launched in many developing countries in these sectors and shows how local initiatives can provide answers to the pessimism of experts and the media. Multidisciplinary analysis and practices explain how collective work creates value chains that can foster local and national economic development. The authors revisit the innovation agri-food models that contribute to economic development. Agri-Innovations and Development Challenges is composed of general presentations of innovations applied in developing countries, as well as specific studies on the joint valorization of knowledge and experience in agri-food engineering

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The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had an undeniable impact on cybercrime. The initial crisis quickly became a global catastrophe with multiple consequences in economics, health, and political and social fields. This book explores how this global emergency has influenced cybercrime. Indeed, since feeding off new vulnerabilities, thanks to the effects of the pandemic crisis in various states around the world, cybercrime has increased and evolved.In 2020, the world was already dealing with numerous tensions and the effects of the global crisis have therefore only tended to exacerbate the issues that relate to cybercrime. For example, radicalization and identity theft has found an environment in which they thrive: the Internet. Criminals have been able to adapt their modus operandi, their targets and their attack vectors. However, on the plus side, the response of law enforcement and public authorities, in terms of the legal, policing and policy side of cybercrime, has also been adapted in order to better combat the increase in this phenomenon.

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The application of Bayesian Networks (BN) or Dynamic Bayesian Networks (DBN) in dependability and risk analysis is a recent development. A large number of scientific publications show the interest in the applications of BN in this field. Unfortunately, this modeling formalism is not fully accepted in the industry. The questions facing today's engineers are focused on the validity of BN models and the resulting estimates. Indeed, a BN model is not based on a specific semantic in dependability but offers a general formalism for modeling problems under uncertainty. This book explains the principles of knowledge structuration to ensure a valid BN and DBN model and illustrate the flexibility and efficiency of these representations in dependability, risk analysis and control of multi-state systems and dynamic systems. Across five chapters, the authors present several modeling methods and industrial applications are referenced for illustration in real industrial contexts.

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The patent system is criticized today by some practitioners and economists. In fact, there is a partial disconnection between patent demographics and productivity gains, but also the development of actors who do not innovate and who develop business models that their detractors equate with a capture of annuities or a dangerous commodification of patents. This book provides a less Manichaean view of the position of patents in the system of contemporary innovation. It first recalls that these criticisms are not new, before arguing that if these criticisms have been revived, it is because of a partial shift from an integrated innovation system to a much more fragmented and open system. This shift accompanied the promotion of a more competitive economy. The authors show that this movement is coherent with a more intensive use of patents, but also one that is more focused on their signal function than on their function of direct monetary incentive to innovation.

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The risk of explosion is inseparable from industrial activity, as we are often reminded by the news. In order to avoid an explosion, it is necessary to understand the phenomena surrounding it, and take the necessary preventive measures to protect society if it comes to the worst-case scenario. This book will detail these phenomena. The Mechanisms of Explosions presents theoretical aspects from a physicochemical point of view and proposes various methods adapted to each type of explosion, including ATEX explosions. The author shares his knowledge of the mechanisms of explosions, acquired during numerous investigations. These 27 case studies – detailing circumstances, mechanisms and the nature and intensity of explosive effects – were selected to cover all of the possible physical or chemical phenomena, substances and mechanisms, without limiting themselves to the most common situations. This book, packed full of information, is designed to benefit those who analyze and investigate explosions, particularly insurance and judicial experts, prevention engineers, security managers and trainers.

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Business Intelligence (BI) has emerged as a field which seeks to support managers in decision-making. It encompasses the techniques, methods and tools for conducting analytically-based IT solutions, which are referred to as OLAP (OnLine Analytical Processing). Within this field, SQL has a role as a leader and is continuously evolving to cover both transactional and analytical data management. This book discusses the functions provided by Microsoft® SQL Server 2014/2016 in terms of business intelligence. The analytic functions are considered as an enrichment of the SQL language. They combine a series of practical functions to answer complex analysis requests with all the simplicity, elegance and acquired performance of the SQL language. Drawing on the wide experience of the author in teaching and research, as well as insights from contacts in the industry, this book focuses on the issues and difficulties faced by academics (students and teachers) and professionals engaged in data analysis with the SQL Server 2014/2016 database management system.

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This book presents the basics of the non-invasive geophysical method for groundwater investigation, called Magnetic Resonance Sounding (MRS) or Surface Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SNMR), and its practical application to the problems of groundwater localization and aquifer characterization. The method is based on the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) phenomenon and is selectively sensitive to groundwater. The main aims of the author are to teach the reader the basic principles of the method as well as to formulate consistent approximate models, leading to reasonably simple inverse problems. Containing an extensive bibliography, numerous practical and numerical examples as well as a detailed presentation of the nuts and bolts of the method based on the long-term experience of SNMR development and practical use, this book is useful for students, scientists and professional engineers working in the field of hydrogeophysics and hydrogeology. Contents 1. SNMR Imaging for Groundwater.2. The Basics of NMR.3. Forward Modeling.4. Inversion.5. Link Between SNMR and Aquifer Parameters.

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Two new fields have recently appeared: mobile ad hoc networks and sensor networks. The emergence of these very promising systems is mainly due to great technological progress in the field of wireless communication protocols; these will make it possible to offer a broad range of new applications in both civilian and militarian domains. The inherent characteristics of these systems imply new challenges. This book deals with several relevant fields related to the evolution of these spontaneous and self-organized networks. The authors tackle critical problems such as the design of unicast/multicast routing protocols, the support of the quality of service, the security mechanisms for routing and data transmission, the service discovery, the techniques of clustering/self-organization, the mobility of code and the fault-tolerance techniques. The discussion adopts an analysis-oriented approach which aims to cover the current cutting-edge aspects of these fields and to highlight some potential future development, making it essential reading for anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of these exciting new areas.

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In the biogeochemical dynamics of marine ecosystems, silicon is a major element whose role has, for a long time, been underestimated. It is however indispensable to the activity of several biomineralizing marine organisms, some of which play an essential role in the biological pump of oceanic carbon. This book presents notions indispensable to the knowledge on the silicon biogeochemical cycle in ocean systems, first of all describing the main quantitative analysis techniques and examination of the major organisms involved in the cycle. The author then moves on to study the most up-to-date processes to control the use of silicon and its regeneration in natural conditions, before mentioning the central role played by this original element in the control of all the biogeochemical cycles in the global ocean. The available information finally enables the global biogeochemical budget of silicon in the marine environment to be quantified.

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Wireless telecommunication systems generate a huge amount of interest. In the last two decades, these systems have experienced at least three major technological leaps, and it has become impossible to imagine how society was organized without them. In this book, we propose a macroscopic approach on wireless systems, and aim at answering key questions about power, data rates, multiple access, cellular engineering and access networks architectures. We present a series of solved problems, whose objective is to establish the main elements of a global link budget in several radiocommunications systems. Contents 1. Radio Propagation. 2. F/TDMA and GSM. 3. CDMA and UMTS. 4. OFDM and LTE. 5. MIMO and Beamforming. 6. UWB. 7. Synchronization. 8. Digital Communications Fundamentals. 9. Erlang B Tables. About the Authors Michel Terré received his engineering degree from Télécom SudParis, his phD in electronics and telecommunications from Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM), and his habilitation to conduct researches from Paris XIII University. He is a full professor at Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. He his responsabile of CNAM’s Master of Science in radiocommunicationssystems. Mylène Pischella received her engineering degree and her phD in electronics and telecommunications from Télécom ParisTech. She is an associate professor at Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM). Emmanuelle Vivier received her engineering degree from Institut Supérieur d’Electronique de Paris (ISEP) and her PhD in radiocommunications from Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM). She is an associate professor at ISEP, where she is responsible of networks and telecommunications teaching majors.

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DisCSP (Distributed Constraint Satisfaction Problem) is a general framework for solving distributed problems arising in Distributed Artificial Intelligence. A wide variety of problems in artificial intelligence are solved using the constraint satisfaction problem paradigm. However, there are several applications in multi-agent coordination that are of a distributed nature. In this type of application, the knowledge about the problem, that is, variables and constraints, may be logically or geographically distributed among physical distributed agents. This distribution is mainly due to privacy and/or security requirements. Therefore, a distributed model allowing a decentralized solving process is more adequate to model and solve such kinds of problem. The distributed constraint satisfaction problem has such properties. Contents Introduction Part 1. Background on Centralized and Distributed Constraint Reasoning 1. Constraint Satisfaction Problems 2. Distributed Constraint Satisfaction Problems Part 2. Synchronous Search Algorithms for DisCSPs 3. Nogood Based Asynchronous Forward Checking (AFC-ng) 4. Asynchronous Forward Checking Tree (AFC-tree) 5. Maintaining Arc Consistency Asynchronously in Synchronous Distributed Search Part 3. Asynchronous Search Algorithms and Ordering Heuristics for DisCSPs 6. Corrigendum to “Min-domain Retroactive Ordering for Asynchronous Backtracking” 7. Agile Asynchronous BackTracking (Agile-ABT) Part 4. DisChoco 2.0: A Platform for Distributed Constraint Reasoning 8. DisChoco 2.0 9. Conclusion About the Authors Mohamed Wahbi is currently an associate lecturer at Ecole des Mines de Nantes in France. He received his PhD degree in Computer Science from University Montpellier 2, France and Mohammed V University-Agdal, Morocco in 2012 and his research focused on Distributed Constraint Reasoning.

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An overview of the methods used for risk analysis in a variety of industrial sectors, with a particular focus on the consideration of human aspects, this book provides a definition of all the fundamental notions associated with risks and risk management, as well as clearly placing the discipline of risk analysis within the broader context of risk management processes.The author begins by presenting a certain number of basic concepts, followed by the general principle of risk analysis. He then moves on to examine the ISO31000 standard, which provides a specification for the implementation of a risk management approach. The ability to represent the information we use is crucial, so the representation of knowledge, covering both information concerning the risk occurrence mechanism and details of the system under scrutiny, is also considered. The different analysis methods are then presented, firstly for the identification of risks, then for their analysis in terms of cause and effect, and finally for the implementation of safety measures.Concrete examples are given throughout the book and the methodology and method can be applied to various fields (industry, health, organization, technical systems). Contents Part 1. General Concepts and Principles1. Introduction.2. Basic Notions.3. Principles of Risk Analysis Methods.4. The Risk Management Process (ISO31000).Part 2. Knowledge Representation5. Modeling Risk.6. Measuring the Importance of a Risk.7. Modeling of Systems for Risk Analysis.Part 3. Risk Analysis Method8. Preliminary Hazard Analysis.9. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis.10. Deviation Analysis Using the HAZOP Method.11. The Systemic and Organized Risk Analysis Method.12. Fault Tree Analysis.13. Event Tree and Bow-Tie Diagram Analysis.14. Human Reliability Analysis.15. Barrier Analysis and Layer of Protection Analysis.Part 4. AppendicesAppendix 1. Occupational Hazard Checklists.Appendix 2. Causal Tree Analysis.Appendix 3. A Few Reminders on the Theory of Probability.Appendix 4. Useful Notions in Reliability Theory.Appendix 5. Data Sources for Reliability.Appendix 6. A Few Approaches for System Modelling.Appendix 7. CaseStudy: Chemical Process.Appendix 8. XRisk Software. About the Authors Jean-Marie Flaus is Professor at Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France.

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Mathematical Imaging is currently a rapidly growing field in applied mathematics, with an increasing need for theoretical mathematics. This book, the second of two volumes, emphasizes the role of mathematics as a rigorous basis for imaging sciences. It provides a comprehensive and convenient overview of the key mathematical concepts, notions, tools and frameworks involved in the various fields of gray-tone and binary image processing and analysis, by proposing a large, but coherent, set of symbols and notations, a complete list of subjects and a detailed bibliography. It establishes a bridge between the pure and applied mathematical disciplines, and the processing and analysis of gray-tone and binary images. It is accessible to readers who have neither extensive mathematical training, nor peer knowledge in Image Processing and Analysis. It is a self-contained book focusing on the mathematical notions, concepts, operations, structures, and frameworks that are beyond or involved in Image Processing and Analysis. The notations are simplified as far as possible in order to be more explicative and consistent throughout the book and the mathematical aspects are systematically discussed in the image processing and analysis context, through practical examples or concrete illustrations. Conversely, the discussed applicative issues allow the role of mathematics to be highlighted. Written for a broad audience – students, mathematicians, image processing and analysis specialists, as well as other scientists and practitioners – the author hopes that readers will find their own way of using the book, thus providing a mathematical companion that can help mathematicians become more familiar with image processing and analysis, and likewise, image processing and image analysis scientists, researchers and engineers gain a deeper understanding of mathematical notions and concepts.

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Knowledge Management (KM) encompasses a wide range of tools and methods that are at the heart of the information and communication society and provide solutions that rely as much on organization as on technology. This title brings together contributions from authors from a range of countries who are recognized as leading figures in this field, both in an academic and a practical sense. It describes the strategic aspects of KM and defines the underlying principles in terms of management, life cycle, process, methods and tools involved in this discipline. Several approaches to the running of KM within organizations are then discussed. The influence of KM on the performance of a company is analyzed and guidelines are given on various KM approaches that can be used to achieve specific goals. Finally, several case studies of companies that have put KM at the heart of their organizational strategy are given to demonstrate how this approach has been put into practice. Given the practical approach taken by this book and the considerable advantages that a good handling of KM can bring to an organization, this title will be of great interest to those involved in this field.

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Industrial, economic and organizational mutations are creating a transformation in employment, skills and work. Developing the employability of the workforce is one response to these challenges. However, the link between mutations and employability is not obvious: it must be constructed and implemented in order to ensure that employees are able to reach satisfying professional situations. Employability and Industrial Mutations presents a definition of employability and the associated challenges for public authorities, organizations and employees: managing unemployment, successful change and employee empowerment. It then examines several worker profiles to better understand what "being employable" means. It goes on to analyze several examples of management systems for employability at different stages of an individual’s career, and finally explores the issue of developing or maintaining employability in real-life situations and contexts. This book brings together researchers and practitioners from a range of different fields in order to shed light on the complex relationship between mutations and employability.

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This book highlights the processes of biomass thermochemical conversion, covering topics from combustion and gasification, to pyrolysis and liquefaction. Heat, power, biofuels and green chemicals can all be produced by these thermochemical processes. The different scales of investigation are presented: from the bioenergy chains, to the reactors and molecular mechanisms. The author uses current research and data to present bioenergy chains from forest to final use, including the biomass supply chains, as well as the life cycle assessment of different process chains. Biomass conversion reactors are also presented, detailing their technologies for combustion, gasification and syngas up-grading systems, pyrolysis and bio-oil upgrading. The physical-chemical mechanisms occurring in all these reactors are presented highlighting the main pathways for gas, char and bio-oil formation from biomass. This book offers an overview of biomass valorization for students, engineers or developers in chemistry, chemical, environmental or mechanical engineering.

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As a society today, we are so dependent on systems-of-systems that any malfunction has devastating consequences, both human and financial. Their technical design, functional complexity and numerous interfaces justify a significant investment in testing in order to limit anomalies and malfunctions. Based on more than 40 years of practice, this book goes beyond the simple testing of an application – already extensively covered by other authors – to focus on methodologies, techniques, continuous improvement processes, load estimates, metrics and reporting, which are illustrated by a case study. It also discusses several challenges for the near future. Pragmatic and clear, this book displays many examples and references that will help you improve the quality of your systemsof-systems efficiently and effectively and lead you to identify the impact of upstream decisions and their consequences. Advanced Testing of Systems-of-Systems 2 deals with the practical implementation and use of the techniques and methodologies proposed in the first volume.

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Cyber security is a key issue affecting the confidence of Internet users and the sustainability of businesses. It is also a national issue with regards to economic development and resilience. As a concern, cyber risks are not only in the hands of IT security managers, but of everyone, and non-executive directors and managing directors may be held to account in relation to shareholders, customers, suppliers, employees, banks and public authorities. The implementation of a cybersecurity system, including processes, devices and training, is essential to protect a company against theft of strategic and personal data, sabotage and fraud. Cybersecurity and Decision Makers presents a comprehensive overview of cybercrime and best practice to confidently adapt to the digital world; covering areas such as risk mapping, compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation, cyber culture, ethics and crisis management. It is intended for anyone concerned about the protection of their data, as well as decision makers in any organization.

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Based on a convergence of network technologies, the Next Generation Network (NGN) is being deployed to carry high quality video and voice data. In fact, the convergence of network technologies has been driven by the converging needs of end-users.The perceived end-to-end quality is one of the main goals required by users that must be guaranteed by the network operators and the Internet Service Providers, through manufacturer equipment. This is referred to as the notion of Quality of Experience (QoE) and is becoming commonly used to represent user perception. The QoE is not a technical metric, but rather a concept consisting of all elements of a user's perception of the network services. The authors of this book focus on the idea of how to integrate the QoE into a control-command chain in order to construct an adaptive network system. More precisely, in the context of Content-Oriented Networks used to redesign the current Internet architecture to accommodate content-oriented applications and services, they aim to describe an end-to-end QoE model applied to a Content Distribution Network architecture. About the Authors Abdelhamid Mellouk is Full Professor at University of Paris-Est C-VdM (UPEC), Networks & Telecommunications (N&T) Department and LiSSi Laboratory, France. Head of several executive national and international positions, he was the founder of the Network Control Research activity at UPEC with extensive international academic and industrial collaborations. His general area of research is in adaptive real-time control for high-speed new generation dynamic wired/wireless networks in order to maintain acceptable Quality of Service/Experience for added-value services. He is an active member of the IEEE Communications Society and has held several offices including leadership positions in IEEE Communications Society Technical Committees.Said Hoceini is Associate Professor at University of Paris-Est C-VdM (UPEC), Networks & Telecommunications (N&T) Department and LiSSi Laboratory, France. His research focuses on routing algorithms, quality of service, quality of experience, and wireless sensor networks, as well as bio-inspired artificial intelligence approaches. His work has been published in several international conferences and journals and he serves on several TPCs.Hai Anh Tran is Associate Professor at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), Vietnam. His research focuses on QoE aspects, QoS adaptive control/command mechanisms, wired routing, as well as bio-inspired artificial intelligence approaches.

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It is commonly recognized that logistics has become a major strategic issue for all companies, whether they are part of the primary, secondary or tertiary sector. Faced with the external pressures of globalization and competition, logistics optimizes processes and reduces production and delivery cycles. The use of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SuSCM) is now increasingly at the center of thought, due to the numerous factors favoring its implementation: requests from various stakeholders, governmental pressures (decrees, laws, regulations, etc.), environmental pressures (pollution, disappearance of fuel fossils, etc.) and societal pressures (reputation/image, protection, etc.). However, there are still obstacles to the implementation of SuSCM, including significant costs, the complexity of coordination and the lack of communication within the whole supply chain. Nevertheless, it should nowadays be included by any organization in its decisions towards a strategic approach towards sustainability. This book presents each economic, environmental and societal aspect of SuSCM. By considering each of these dimensions separately, the primary objective is to facilitate the implementation of the elements that make it up. Readers are also provided with several “strategic interpretive lenses” to be able to perform audits and diagnostics of each component. Contents: 1. The Economic Aspect of Sustainable Supply Chain Management. 2. The Environmental Aspect of Sustainable Supply Chain Management. 3. The Social/Societal Aspect of Sustainable Supply Chain Management. 4. Sustainable Supply Chain Management Balanced Scorecard. About the Authors Joëlle Morana is Lecturer in management science, attached to the Laboratoire d’Economie des Transports (Transport Economy Laboratory) at University Lumière Lyon II in France. Her fields of research concern economic, environmental and societal logistics.

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Today, hundreds of millions of people drink contaminated water without knowing it. Yet water treatment technologies can effectively eliminate contamination and can supply urban and rural populations with safe drinking water in a secure way. For almost two centuries, the huge number of treatments available to guarantee water quality has grown alongside technological progress, the strengthening of industry norms and the reinforcement of consumer expectations. New treatment methods have been developed according to the advancement of knowledge and new sanitary regulations. This five-volume book sets out to clearly present the variety of treatments available along with their performance, limitations and conditions of use as well as ways to combine them to produce safe drinking water, which is a basic need essential to everyday life. The author shares his expertise acquired at Veolia, a company that is a world leader in water services and sanitation, desalination of sea water and the recycling of wastewater. Founded in France in 1853 to bring safe water to populations and to protect them from waterborne epidemics which ravaged cities, its history is intertwined with that of water treatment.

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The rapid developments in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) over the past 20 years have affirmed its supremacy over most other means of non-invasive exploration of the human body. This progress has had other consequences for imaging physicists: having knowledge about only one of the sides of MRI is nowadays no longer enough to develop new sequences or even to learn more about those that already exist. It is necessary to have a clear and precise view of all the fields explored today by this imaging technique, such as rapid imaging, flows, diffusion, perfusion or even functional MRI.This book aims to allow readers with the basics of physics and mathematics within the field MRI to easily immerse themselves in techniques that are not familiar to them. Pragmatic in approach, moving between the physics underlying the techniques being studied and the clinical examination of images, it will also be of interest to radiologists looking to define protocols or make better use of the images obtained. Contents 1. Flow.2. Diffusion.3. Perfusion.4. Functional MRI. About the Authors Vincent Perrin is a specialist teacher in the fields of physics and chemistry.

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This book aims to help engineers, Masters students and young researchers to understand and gain a general knowledge of logistic systems optimization problems and techniques, such as system design, layout, stock management, quality management, lot-sizing or scheduling. It summarizes the evaluation and optimization methods used to solve the most frequent problems. In particular, the authors also emphasize some recent and interesting scientific developments, as well as presenting some industrial applications and some solved instances from real-life cases.Performance evaluation tools (Petri nets, the Markov process, discrete event simulation, etc.) and optimization techniques (branch-and-bound, dynamic programming, genetic algorithms, ant colony optimization, etc.) are presented first. Then, new optimization methods are presented to solve systems design problems, layout problems and buffer-sizing optimization. Forecasting methods, inventory optimization, packing problems, lot-sizing quality management and scheduling are presented with examples in the final chapters.

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Earthquake Occurrence provides the reader with a review of algorithms applicable for modeling seismicity, such as short-term earthquake clustering and pseudo-periodic long-term behavior of major earthquakes. The concept of the likelihood ratio of a set of observations under different hypotheses is applied for comparison among various models. In short-term models, known by the term ETAS, the occurrence space and time rate density of earthquakes is modeled as the sum of two terms, one representing the independent or spontaneous events, and the other representing the activity triggered by previous earthquakes. Examples of the application of such algorithms in real cases are also reported. Dealing with long-term recurrence models, renewal time-dependent models, implying a pseudo-periodicity of earthquake occurrence, are compared with the simple time-independent Poisson model, in which every event occurs regardless of what has occurred in the past. The book also introduces a number of computer codes developed by the authors over decades of seismological research.

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Competition from emerging and developing countries, challenges related to energy and water, the continuing increase in the global population and the obligation to be sustainable are all impacting developed countries such as the United States, France, etc. Manufacturing has been almost totally neglected by these developed countries and thus there is a strong need to review R&D and the development and industrialization processes. This is a prerequisite for maintaining and improving welfare and quality of life. The industrialization process can be defined as the process of converting research or laboratory experiments into a physical tool capable of producing a product of value for customers of specified markets. Such a process implies knowledge of BAT (best available techniques) in chemical engineering, plant design, production competitiveness, the proper utilization of tools (toolbox concept) such as value assessment, value engineering, eco-design, LCA (lifecycle analysis), process simulation, modeling, innovation and appropriate metrics usage. These are mandatory to ensure commercial success and covered by the authors of this book.

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In this title, the authors leap into a novel paradigm of scalability and cost-effectiveness, on the basis of resource reuse. In a world with much abundance of wirelessly accessible devices, WSN deployments should capitalize on the resources already available in the region of deployment, and only augment it with the components required to meet new application requirements. However, if the required resources already exist in that region, WSN deployment converges to an assignment and scheduling scheme to accommodate for the new application given the existing resources. Such resources are polled from many fields, including multiple WSNs already in the field, static networks (WiFi, WiMAX, cellular, etc) in addition to municipal, industrial and mobile resources.The architecture, framework and pricing policy, as well as approaches for backward compatibility with existing deployments, are presented in this book. We elaborate on the formalization of the problem, and contrast with existing work on coverage. This paradigm adopts optimal assignments in WSNs and exploits dynamic re-programming for boosting post-deployment and backward compatible protocols.

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Electromagnetic wave scattering from randomly rough surfaces in the presence of scatterers is an active, interdisciplinary area of research with myriad practical applications in fields such as optics, acoustics, geoscience and remote sensing. In this book, the Method of Moments (MoM) is applied to compute the field scattered by scatterers such as canonical objects (cylinder or plate) or a randomly rough surface, and also by an object above or below a random rough surface. Since the problem is considered to be 2D, the integral equations (IEs) are scalar and only the TE (transverse electric) and TM (transverse magnetic) polarizations are addressed (no cross-polarizations occur). In Chapter 1, the MoM is applied to convert the IEs into a linear system, while Chapter 2 compares the MoM with the exact solution of the field scattered by a cylinder in free space, and with the Physical Optics (PO) approximation for the scattering from a plate in free space. Chapter 3 presents numerical results, obtained from the MoM, of the coherent and incoherent intensities scattered by a random rough surface and an object below a random rough surface. The final chapter presents the same results as in Chapter 3, but for an object above a random rough surface. In these last two chapters, the coupling between the two scatterers is also studied in detail by inverting the impedance matrix by blocks. Contents 1. Integral Equations for a Single Scatterer: Method of Moments and Rough Surfaces. 2. Validation of the Method of Moments for a Single Scatterer. 3. Scattering from Two Illuminated Scatterers. 4. Scattering from Two Scatterers Where Only One is Illuminated. Appendix. Matlab Codes. About the Authors Christophe Bourlier works at the IETR (Institut d’Electronique et de Télécommunications de Rennes) laboratory at Polytech Nantes (University of Nantes, France) as well as being a Researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) on electromagnetic wave scattering from rough surfaces and objects for remote sensing applications and radar signatures. He is the author of more than 160 journal articles and conference papers. Nicolas Pinel is currently working as a Research Engineer at the IETR laboratory at Polytech Nantes and is about to join Alyotech Technologies in Rennes, France. His research interests are in the areas of radar and optical remote sensing, scattering and propagation. In particular, he works on asymptotic methods of electromagnetic wave scattering from random rough surfaces and layers. Gildas Kubické is in charge of the “Expertise in electroMagnetism and Computation” (EMC) laboratory at the DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement), French Ministry of Defense, where he works in the field of radar signatures and electromagnetic stealth. His research interests include electromagnetic scattering and radar cross-section modeling.

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Innovations of agri-food systems during the last 50 years have been guided by a globalized agro-industrial paradigm, which has contributed to climate change, degradation of natural resources, soil depletion, social inequalities, loss of biodiversity and various food-related health problems. Despite the increasing emphasis of food policies and research to address these issues with ecologically sustainable innovations, there are still no studies that explain how to utilize and integrate ecodesign practices in food products development in a world of finite resources. This book explains how to employ ecodesign in business models to address the economic, social, environmental, and nutritional problems that face the world�s food systems. The lessons of the ÉcoTrophélia project ? a unique program implemented by a group of European agricultural higher education institutions to involve students in designing and developing food ecoinnovation projects ? are explored. Through an analysis of these projects, the authors describe the tools, methods and standards that were developed to institute ecodesign into the business models of 11 ecologically-friendly food products. This book provides operational good practices that can be implemented in educational programs and agri-food industries, to orient learning and practices towards greater sustainability.

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This book presents reviews of various aspects of radiation/matter interactions, be these instrumental developments, the application of the study of the interaction of X-rays and materials to a particular scientific field, or specific methodological approaches. The overall aim of the book is to provide reference summaries for a range of specific subject areas within a pedagogical framework. Each chapter is written by an author who is well known within their field and who has delivered an invited lecture on their subject area as part of the “RX2009 – X-rays and Materials” colloquium that took place in December 2009 at Orsay in France. The book consists of five chapters on the subject of X-ray diffraction, scattering and absorption. Chapter 1 gives a detailed presentation of the capabilities and potential of beam lines dedicated to condensed matter studies at the SOLEIL synchrotron radiation source. Chapter 2 focuses on the study of nanoparticles using small-angle X-ray scattering. Chapter 3 discusses the quantitative studies of this scattering signal used to analyze these characteristics in detail. Chapter 4 discusses relaxor materials, which are ceramics with a particularly complex microstructure. Chapter 5 discusses an approach enabling the in situ analysis of these phase transitions and their associated microstructural changes.

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This book, on the ergonomics of human−machine systems, is aimed at engineers specializing in informatics, automation, production or robotics, who are faced with a significant dilemma during the conception of human−machine systems. On the one hand, the human operator guarantees the reliability of the system and has been known to salvage numerous critical situations through an ability to reason in unplanned, imprecise and uncertain situations; on the other hand, the human operator can be unpredictable and create disturbances in the automated system. The first part of the book is dedicated to the methods of human-centered design, from three different points of view, the various chapters focusing on models developed by human engineers and functional models to explain human behavior in their environment, models of cognitive psychology and models in the domain of automobile driving. Part 2 develops the methods of evaluation of the human−machine systems, looking at the evaluation of the activity of the human operator at work and human error analysis methods. Finally, Part 3 is dedicated to human−machine cooperation, where the authors show that a cooperative agent comprises a know-how and a so-called know-how-to-cooperate and show the way to design and evaluate that cooperation in real industrial contexts.

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Equilibrium and Transfer in Porous Media 3 A porous medium is composed of a solid matrix and its geometrical complement: the pore space. This pore space can be occupied by one or more fluids. The understanding of transport phenomena in porous media is a challenging intellectual task. This book provides a detailed analysis of the aspects required for the understanding of many experimental techniques in the field of porous media transport phenomena. It is aimed at students or engineers who may not be looking specifically to become theoreticians in porous media, but wish to integrate knowledge of porous media with their previous scientific culture, or who may have encountered them when dealing with a technological problem. While avoiding the details of the more mathematical and abstract developments of the theories of macroscopization, the author gives as accurate and rigorous an idea as possible of the methods used to establish the major laws of macroscopic behavior in porous media. He also illustrates the constitutive laws and equations by demonstrating some of their classical applications. The priority is to put the constitutive laws in concrete circumstances without going into technical detail. This third volume in the three-volume series focuses on the applications of isothermal transport and coupled transfers in porous media.

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This book analyzes stochastic processes on networks and regular structures such as lattices by employing the Markovian random walk approach. Part 1 is devoted to the study of local and non-local random walks. It shows how non-local random walk strategies can be defined by functions of the Laplacian matrix that maintain the stochasticity of the transition probabilities. A major result is that only two types of functions are admissible: type (i) functions generate asymptotically local walks with the emergence of Brownian motion, whereas type (ii) functions generate asymptotically scale-free non-local “fractional” walks with the emergence of Lévy flights. In Part 2, fractional dynamics and Lévy flight behavior are analyzed thoroughly, and a generalization of Pólya's classical recurrence theorem is developed for fractional walks. The authors analyze primary fractional walk characteristics such as the mean occupation time, the mean first passage time, the fractal scaling of the set of distinct nodes visited, etc. The results show the improved search capacities of fractional dynamics on networks.

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'In the two decades since this book was first published, excuse making has flourished—both as a practice and as a process inviting investigation and theory. Indeed, how could it be otherwise?' So write the authors in their new introduction. But they also maintain that excuse making is a critical element in what social psychologists refer to as 'reality negotiation.' Originally published by John Wiley in 1983.

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We are currently witnessing an increase in telecommunications norms and standards given the recent advances in this field. The increasing number of normalized standards paves the way for an increase in the range of services available for each consumer. Moreover, the majority of available radio frequencies have already been allocated. This explains the emergence of cognitive radio (CR) – the sharing of the spectrum between a primary user and a secondary user. In this book, we will present the state of the art of the different techniques for spectrum access using cooperation and competition to solve the problem of spectrum allocation and ensure better management of radio resources in a radio cognitive context. The different aspects of research explored up until now on the applications of multi-agent systems (MAS) in the field of cognitive radio are analyzed in this book. The first chapter begins with an insight into wireless networks and mobiles, with special focus on the IEEE 802.22 norm, which is a norm dedicated to CR. Chapter 2 goes into detail about CR, which is a technical field at the boundary between telecommunications and Artificial Intelligence (AI). In Chapter 3, the concept of the “agent” from AI is expanded to MAS and associated applications. Finally, Chapter 4 establishes an overview of the use of AI techniques, in particular MAS, for its allocation of radio resources and dynamic access to the spectrum in CR. Contents 1. Wireless and Mobile Networks. 2. Cognitive Radio. 3. Multi-agent Systems. 4. Dynamic Spectrum Access. About the Authors Badr Benmammar has been Associate Professor at UABT (University Abou Bekr Belkaïd Tlemcen), Algeria since 2010 and was a research fellow at CNRS LaBRI Laboratory of the University of Bordeaux 1 until 2007. He is currently carrying out research at the Laboratory of Telecommunications of Tlemcen (LTT), UABT, Algeria. His main research activities concern the cognitive radio network, Quality of Service on mobile and wireless networks, end-to-end signaling protocols and agent technology. His work on Quality of Service has led to many publications in journals and conference proceedings. Asma Amraoui is currently a PhD candidate; she is preparing a doctoral thesis on a topic of research that explores the use of artificial intelligence techniques in cognitive radio networks. She is attached to the Laboratory of Telecommunications of Tlemcen (LTT) in Algeria.

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Previous studies have looked at the contribution of information technology and network theory to the art of warfare as understood in the broader sense. This book, however, focuses on an area particularly important in understanding the significance of the information revolution; its impact on strategic theory. The purpose of the book is to critically analyze the contributions and challenges that the spread of information technologies can bring to categories of classic strategic theory. In the first two chapters, the author establishes the context of the book, coming back to the epistemology of revolution in military affairs and its terminology. The third chapter examines the political bases of strategic action and operational strategy, before the next two chapters focus on historical construction of the process of getting to know your opponents and the way in which we consider information collection. Chapter 6 returns to the process of “informationalization” in the doctrine of armed forces, especially in Western countries, and methods of conducting network-centric warfare. The final chapter looks at the attempts of Western countries to adapt to the emergence of techno-guerrillas and new forms of hybrid warfare, and the resulting socio-strategic outcomes.

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This third book of a 3-volume set on Fracture Mechanics adds a pragmatic and supportive character to the previous volumes by focusing on case studies using corrected exercises that teachers, students or engineers will find extremely useful. Due to the wide themes approached in this series, it can also be used to organize work in this field in a new way, as well as in the maintenance of industrial plants.Several cases of sampling plans and their applications in industry are presented, as well as several solved case studies on the main indicators of capability according to ISO/TS 16949, ISO 8258 and FORD.This book distinguishes itself from other works in the field through its originality in presenting an educational approach which aims at helping practitioners both in academia and industry. It is intended for technicians, engineers, designers, students, and teachers working in the fields of engineering and vocational education. The main objective of the author is to provide an assessment of indicators of quality and reliability to aid in decision-making. To this end, an intuitive and practical approach, based on mathematical rigor, is recommended.

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In recent years, interest for local energy production, supply and consumption has increased in academic and public debates. In particular, contemporary energy transition discourses and strategies often emphasize the search for increased local energy autonomy, a phrase which can refer to a diverse range of configurations, both in terms of the spaces and scales of the local territory considered and in terms of what is meant by energy autonomy. This book explores policies, projects and processes aimed at increased local energy autonomy, with a particular focus on their spatial, infrastructural and political dimensions. In doing so, the authors – Sabine Barles, Bruno Barroca, Guilhem Blanchard, Benoit Boutaud, Arwen Colell, Gilles Debizet, Ariane Debourdeau, Laure Dobigny, Florian Dupont, Zélia Hampikian, Sylvy Jaglin, Allan Jones, Raphael Ménard, Alain Nadaï, Angela Pohlmann, Cyril Roger-Lacan, Eric Vidalenc – improve our understanding of the always partial and controversial processes of energy relocation that articulate forms of local metabolic self-sufficiency, socio-technical decentralization and political empowerment. Comprising fifteen chapters, the book is divided into four parts: Governance and Actors; Urban Projects and Energy Systems; Energy Communities; and The Challenges of Energy Autonomy.

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The presence of water on Earth is discussed in this book using various theories about its origin as a basis. These theories include a massive degassing of the primitive parent bodies that built our planet as well as a late addition from comets that collided with the Earth’s surface. The extraordinary physico-chemical properties of the water molecules, combined with its abundance and distribution over the Earth’s surface, have contributed to regulating the global climate and favoring species’ evolution for more than 4 billion years. The early emergence of life in the deep ocean and its further diversification were closely linked to the global water cycle whose dynamics result from the energy balance between solar radiation and the internal heat flux of the Earth. Chapter 1 of this book deals with the extraordinary physico-chemical properties of the water molecule while Chapter 2 provides insight on theories regarding the origin of water on Earth. In the third chapter, the author focuses on the chemical composition of the main water reservoirs of our planet. Chapters 4 and 5 discuss water’s relationship with plate tectonics and life, respectively. The sixth and final chapter uses stable isotope tracking to look into the water cycle and past climates. Contents 1. Water: A Molecule Endowed with Extraordinary Physicochemical Properties.2. Theories about the Origin of Water on Earth.3. The Main Water Reservoirs on Earth and their Chemical Composition.4. Water and Plate Tectonics.5. Water and Life.6. Stable Isotope Tracking: Water Cycles and Climates of the Past. The presence of water on Earth is discussed on the basis of the various theories about its origin such as a massive degassing of the primitive parent bodies that built our planet as well as a late addition from comets that collided with its surface. The extraordinary physico-chemical properties of the water molecule combined with its abundance and distribution over the Earth’s surface have contributed to regulating the global climate and favoring the evolution of species for more than 4 billion years. The early emergence of life in the deep ocean and its further diversification were closely linked to the global water cycle whose dynamics result from the energy balance between solar radiation and the internal heat flux of the Earth.

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