Model-Based Control of Logistics Processes in Volatile Environments

This book offers a concise and in-depth exposition of specific algorithmic solutions for distributed optimization based control of multi-agent networks and their performance analysis. It synthesizes a

This monograph presents results originating from a research project investigating autonomous adaptation of vehicle schedules and systematically develops and evaluates innovative ideas for the manageme

Role-based access control (RBAC) is a widely used technology to control information flows as well as control flows within and between applications in compliance with restrictions implied by security p

This book is the proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Autonomous Remanufacturing (IWAR 2024) and contains contributions from innovators in autonomous remanufacturing to strengthen the body of knowledge on design, modelling and control of remanufacturing processes and systems. Remanufacturing has been identified as having significant financial and environment benefits; however, critical challenges still remain in designing and operating remanufacturing processes and systems. These challenges are complex, spanning all product life cycles and encompassing multiple disciplines within and outside of engineering. In particular, the book showcases the work of experts on reverse logistics optimization, designing products for disassembly, and advancements in remanufacturing automation. These topics are currently at the forefront of discussions among leading industries and researchers.

Sustainable Fashion: Take Action, Third Edition presents a fresh exploration of practices that are underway in design and production within the fashion industry and the possibilities for future directions that can be taken now. This book focuses on innovative action needed to achieve the goal of creating healthier environments, reducing climate change, and improving the well-being of all people as they choose and wear clothing. This third edition continues to delve into the role that fashion plays in a sustainable future, through the interconnected model of “Connecting with People, Processes, and Environment”, which marks the focus of the book’s three sections. Covering a wide range of sustainability practices, the chapters are written by both academic and industry professionals, providing a balanced view of the topics with breadth and depth and suggesting routes for further examination.New to this Edition:-Thoroughly revised to cover advancements since the last edition, topics of equ

Against the background of often esoteric literature in semiotics, this book offers a fresh and rigorous new interpretation of how to approach the study of communication, signs and meaning. Grounded in a deductive theory of interacting systems, Piotr Sadowski's book provides an accessible account of the hierarchy of communication.Divided into two parts, this book argues in the first section that a deductive semiotic theory generates communication situations of increasing complexity, from contiguous communication to indirect, referential forms based on indexical, iconic, and symbolic signs. Within this system, Sadowski explains how key concepts of the semiotic model such as information, parainformation and metainformation can account for degrees of cognitive complexity of communication processes, including the perception and interpretation of signs on literal and figurative levels. After this clear, step-by-step exposition of the theory of interacting systems, Systemic Semiotics then

Wildland fires are among the most complicated environmental phenomena to model. Fire behavior models are commonly used to predict the direction and rate of spread of wildland fires based on fire history, fuel, and environmental conditions; however, more sophisticated computational fluid dynamic models are now being developed. This quantitative analysis of fire as a fluid dynamic phenomenon embedded in a highly turbulent flow is beginning to reveal the combined interactions of the vegetative structure, combustion-driven convective effects, and atmospheric boundary layer processes. This book provides an overview of the developments in modeling wildland fire dynamics and the key dynamical processes involved. Mathematical and dynamical principles are presented, and the complex phenomena that arise in wildland fire are discussed. Providing a state-of-the-art survey, it is a useful reference for scientists, researchers, and graduate students interested in wildland fire behavior from a broad

"Outstanding...Erickson impresses with his trademark facility for making research-based discussions accessible and entertaining, and readers will appreciate the insightful guidance. This is another home run from Erikson."― Publisher's Weekly Starred Review How to free yourself from the tyranny of narcissists and everyday narcissism, from the multi-million-copy bestselling author of Surrounded by Idiots Are the narcissists in your life making you miserable? Are you worn out by their constant demands for attention, their absolute conviction they are right (even when they’re clearly not), their determination to do whatever they want (regardless of the impact), and their baffling need to control everyone and everything around them?In this thought-provoking, sanity-saving book, Thomas Erikson helps you understand what makes narcissists tick and, crucially, how to handle them without wearing yourself out in the process. With the help of the simple, four-color behavioural model made

Cognitive linguists and psychologists have often argued that language is best understood as an association network; however while the network view of language has had a significant impact on the study of morphology and lexical semantics, it is only recently that researchers have taken an explicit network approach to the study of syntax. This innovative study presents a dynamic network model of grammar in which all aspects of linguistic structure, including core concepts of syntax (e.g. phrase structure, word classes, grammatical relations), are analyzed in terms of associative connections between different types of linguistic elements. These associations are shaped by domain-general learning processes that are operative in language use and sensitive to frequency of occurrence. Drawing on research from usage-based linguistics and cognitive psychology, the book provides an overview of frequency effects in grammar and analyzes these effects within the framework of a dynamic network model.

Most systems involved in a chemical process plant are interactive multivariable systems, to control which, the transfer function matrix model is required. This lucid book considers the identification and control of such systems. It discusses open loop and closed loop identification methods, as well as the design of multivariable controllers based on steady state gain matrix. Simple methods for designing controllers based on transfer function matrix model have been reviewed. The design of controllers for non-square systems, and closed loop identification of multivariable unstable systems by the optimization method are also covered. Several simulation examples and exercise problems at the end of each chapter further help the reader consolidate the knowledge gained. This book will be useful to any engineering student, researcher or practitioner who works with interactive, multivariable control systems.

Surfactant research explores the forces responsible for surfactant assembly and the critical industrial, medical, and personal applications, including viscosity control, microelectronics, drug stabilization, drug delivery, cosmetics, enhanced oil recovery, and foods. Surfactant Science and Technology: Retrospects and Prospects, "a Festschrift in honor of Dr. Kash Mittal," provides a broad perspective with chapters contributed by leaders in the fields of surfactant-based physical, organic, and materials chemistries.Many of the authors participated in a special symposium in Melbourne, Australia, honoring Kash Mittal's 100th edited book at the 18th Surfactants in Solution (SIS) meeting. Each chapter provides an overview of a specific research area, with discussions on past, present, and future directions. The book is divided into six parts.Part I reviews the evolution of theoretical models for surfactant self-assembly, and introduces a model for interpreting ion-specific effects on aggreg

Sentence comprehension - the way we process and understand spoken and written language - is a central and important area of research within psycholinguistics. This book explores the contribution of computational linguistics to the field, showing how computational models of sentence processing can help scientists in their investigation of human cognitive processes. It presents the leading computational model of retrieval processes in sentence processing, the Lewis and Vasishth cue-based retrieval mode, and develops a principled methodology for parameter estimation and model comparison/evaluation using benchmark data, to enable researchers to test their own models of retrieval against the present model. It also provides readers with an overview of the last 20 years of research on the topic of retrieval processes in sentence comprehension, along with source code that allows researchers to extend the model and carry out new research. Comprehensive in its scope, this book is essential readi

Pressure on large fluvial lowlands has increased tremendously during the past twenty years because of flood control, urbanization, and increased dependence upon floodplains and deltas for food production. This book examines human impacts on lowland rivers, and discusses how these changes affect different types of riverine environments and flood processes. Surveying a global range of large rivers, it provides a primary focus on the lower Rhine River in the Netherlands and the Lower Mississippi River in Louisiana. A particular focus of the book is on geo-engineering, which is described in a straight-forward writing style that is accessible to a broad audience of advanced students, researchers, and practitioners in global environmental change, fluvial geomorphology and sedimentology, and flood and water management.

This Element examines visual perception in the context of activities that involve moving about in complex, dynamic environments. A central theme is that the ability of humans and other animals to perceive their surroundings based on vision is profoundly shaped by the need to adaptively regulate locomotion to variations in the environment. As such, important new insights into what and how we perceive can be gleaned by investigating the connection between vision and the control of locomotion. I present an integrated summary of decades of research on the perception of self-motion and object motion based on optic flow, the perception of spatial layout and affordances, and the control strategies for guiding locomotion based on visual information. I also explore important theoretical issues and debates, including the question of whether visual control relies on internal models.

This book provides a comprehensive and detailed description of the various mechanisms of the CCS-EOR process. Whereas previous texts have primarily focused on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) separately, this book provides a general overview of both technologies when used together. Coupled CCS-EOR technology has become increasingly important, as it overcomes the respective shortcomings of the two technologies.The book presents an integrated numerical model including the hysteresis effect, solubility trapping, miscibility, and formation damage by asphaltene deposition. The experimental and model-based evaluation of fluid properties is also discussed. The book concludes by discussing the latest research into CO2 storage coupled with EOR, most notably performance control by including additives in CO2 injection, and CO2 injection into shale reservoirs.Ideally suited for graduate students and researchers in the fields of carbon capture, utilisation, and stora

The Volatility Curse examines the conditions under which economic voting can (and cannot) function as a mechanism of democratic accountability, challenging existing theories that are largely based on experiences in developed democracies. Drawing on cross-national data from around the world and micro-level evidence from Latin America, Daniela Campello and Cesar Zucco make two broad, related arguments. First, they show that economic voting is pervasive around the world, but in economically volatile developing democracies that are dependent on commodity exports and inflows of foreign capital, economic outcomes are highly contingent on conditions beyond government control, which nonetheless determine relevant political outcomes like elections, popular support, and government transitions. Second, politicians are aware of these misattribution patterns and are often able to anticipate their electoral prospects well before elections. This reduces incumbents' incentives to maximize voter welfa

This state-of-the-art account unifies material developed in journal articles over the last 35 years, with two central thrusts: It describes a broad class of system models that the authors call 'stochastic processing networks' (SPNs), which include queueing networks and bandwidth sharing networks as prominent special cases; and in that context it explains and illustrates a method for stability analysis based on fluid models. The central mathematical result is a theorem that can be paraphrased as follows: If the fluid model derived from an SPN is stable, then the SPN itself is stable. Two topics discussed in detail are (a) the derivation of fluid models by means of fluid limit analysis, and (b) stability analysis for fluid models using Lyapunov functions. With regard to applications, there are chapters devoted to max-weight and back-pressure control, proportionally fair resource allocation, data center operations, and flow management in packet networks. Geared toward researchers and grad

In Digital Data Collection and Information Privacy Law, Mark Burdon argues for the reformulation of information privacy law to regulate new power consequences of ubiquitous data collection. Examining developing business models, based on collections of sensor data - with a focus on the 'smart home' - Burdon demonstrates the challenges that are arising for information privacy's control-model and its application of principled protections of personal information exchange. By reformulating information privacy's primary role of individual control as an interrupter of modulated power, Burdon provides a foundation for future law reform and calls for stronger information privacy law protections. This book should be read by anyone interested in the role of privacy in a world of ubiquitous and pervasive data collection.

Cognitive linguists and psychologists have often argued that language is best understood as an association network; however while the network view of language has had a significant impact on the study of morphology and lexical semantics, it is only recently that researchers have taken an explicit network approach to the study of syntax. This innovative study presents a dynamic network model of grammar in which all aspects of linguistic structure, including core concepts of syntax (e.g. phrase structure, word classes, grammatical relations), are analyzed in terms of associative connections between different types of linguistic elements. These associations are shaped by domain-general learning processes that are operative in language use and sensitive to frequency of occurrence. Drawing on research from usage-based linguistics and cognitive psychology, the book provides an overview of frequency effects in grammar and analyzes these effects within the framework of a dynamic network model.

A bridge between the application of subspace-based methods for parameter estimation in signal processing and subspace-based system identification in control systems Model-Based Processing: An Ap

Research on learning and cognition in geoscience education research and other discipline-based education communities suggests that effective instruction should include three key components: a) activation of students' prior knowledge on the subject, b) an active learning pedagogy that allows students to address any existing misconceptions and then build a new understanding of the concept, and c) metacognitive reflections that require students to evaluate their own learning processes during the lesson. This Element provides an overview of the research on student-centered pedagogy in introductory geoscience and paleontology courses and gives examples of these instructional approaches. Student-centered learning shifts the power and attention in a classroom from the instructor to the students. In a student-centered classroom, students are in control of their learning experience and the instructor functions primarily as a guide. Student-centered classrooms trade traditional lecture for conce

The first book to show benefits of intelligent control applications to drying processes, it gives an overview of control principles and systems, from classical model-based to adaptive and optimal cont

Despite significant advances in the understanding of earthquake generation processes and derivation of underlying physical laws, controversy remains regarding the constitutive law for earthquake ruptures and how it should be formulated. Laboratory experiments are necessary to obtain high-resolution measurements that allow the physical nature of shear rupture processes to be deduced, and to resolve the controversy. This important book provides a deeper understanding of earthquake processes from nucleation to their dynamic propagation. Its key focus is a deductive approach based on laboratory-derived physical laws and formulae, such as a unifying constitutive law, a constitutive scaling law, and a physical model of shear rupture nucleation. Topics covered include: the fundamentals of rock failure physics, earthquake generation processes, physical scale dependence, and large-earthquake generation cycles. Designed for researchers and professionals in earthquake seismology, rock failure phy

As Europe deals with a so-called 'refugee crisis', Australia's harsh border control policies have been suggested as a possible model for Europe to copy. Key measures of this system such as long-term mandatory detention, intercepting and turning boats around at sea, and the extraterritorial processing of asylum claims were actually used in the United States long before they were adopted in Australia. The book examines the process through which these policies spread between the United States and Australia and the way the courts in each jurisdiction have dealt with the measures. Daniel Ghezelbash's innovative interdisciplinary analysis shows how policies and practices that 'work' in one country might not work in another. This timely book is a must-read for those interested in preserving the institution of asylum in a volatile international and domestic political climate.

As Europe deals with a so-called 'refugee crisis', Australia's harsh border control policies have been suggested as a possible model for Europe to copy. Key measures of this system such as long-term mandatory detention, intercepting and turning boats around at sea, and the extraterritorial processing of asylum claims were actually used in the United States long before they were adopted in Australia. The book examines the process through which these policies spread between the United States and Australia and the way the courts in each jurisdiction have dealt with the measures. Daniel Ghezelbash's innovative interdisciplinary analysis shows how policies and practices that 'work' in one country might not work in another. This timely book is a must-read for those interested in preserving the institution of asylum in a volatile international and domestic political climate.

Shows the newest developments in the field of multi-parametric model predictive control and optimization and their application for drug delivery systems This book is based on the Modelling, Cont

The variable activity of stars such as the Sun is mediated through stellar magnetic fields, radiative and energetic particle fluxes, stellar winds and magnetic storms manifested as stellar flares and coronal mass ejections. This activity influences planetary atmospheres, climate and habitability: on the one hand it drives life-sustaining processes on planets, but on the other hand can adversely impact planetary environments rendering them uninhabitable. Studies of this intimate relationship between the parent star, its astrosphere and the planets that it hosts have reached a certain level of maturity in our own Solar System. Based on this understanding, the first attempts are being made to characterize the interactions between distant stars and their planets and understand their coupled evolution, which is relevant for the search for habitable exoplanets. IAU Symposium 328 brings together diverse, interdisciplinary reviews and research papers which address the themes of star–planet int

Ensuring America's Health explains why the US health care system offers world-class medical services to some patients but is also exceedingly costly, with fragmented care, poor distribution, and increasingly bureaucratized processes. Based on exhaustive historical research, this work traces how public and private power merged to favor a distinctive economic model that places insurance companies at the center of the system, where they both finance and oversee medical care. Although the insurance company model was created during the 1930s, it continues to drive health care cost and quality problems today. This wide-ranging work not only evaluates the overarching political and economic framework of the medical system but also provides rich narrative detail, examining the political dramas, corporate maneuverings, and forceful personalities that created American health care as we know it. This book breaks new ground in the fields of health care history, organizational studies, and American

Do you need to design efficient wireless communications systems? This unique text provides detailed coverage of radio resource allocation problems in wireless networks and the techniques that can be used to solve them. Covering basic principles and mathematical algorithms, and with a particular focus on power control and channel allocation, you will learn how to model, analyze, and optimize the allocation of resources in both physical and data link layers, and for a range of different network types. Both established and emerging networks are considered, including CDMA and OFDMA wireless networks, relay-based wireless networks, and cognitive radio networks. Numerous exercises help you put knowledge into practice, and provide the tools needed to address some of the current research problems in the field. This is an essential reference whether you are a graduate student, researcher or industry professional working in the field of wireless communication networks.

Private companies exert considerable control over the flow of information on the internet. Whether users are finding information with a search engine, communicating on a social networking site or accessing the internet through an ISP, access to participation can be blocked, channelled, edited or personalised. Such gatekeepers are powerful forces in facilitating or hindering freedom of expression online. This is problematic for a human rights system which has historically treated human rights as a government responsibility, and this is compounded by the largely light-touch regulatory approach to the internet in the West. Regulating Speech in Cyberspace explores how these gatekeepers operate at the intersection of three fields of study: regulation (more broadly, law), corporate social responsibility and human rights. It proposes an alternative corporate governance model for speech regulation, one that acts as a template for the increasingly common use of non-state-based models of governa

All governments, in various ways, regulate and control nonprofit organizations. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), while hopeful of supportive regulatory environments, are simultaneously seeking greater autonomy both to provide services and to advocate for policy change. In part to counter increasing statutory regulation, there is a global nonprofit sector movement towards greater grassroots regulation - what the authors call self-regulation - through codes of conduct and self-accreditation processes. This book drills down to the country level to study both sides of this equation, examining how state regulation and nonprofit self-regulation affect each other and investigating the causal nature of this interaction. Exploring these issues from historical, cultural, political, and environmental perspectives, and in sixteen jurisdictions (Australia, China, Brazil, Ecuador, England and Wales, Ethiopia, Ireland, Israel, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Tanzania, Uganda, Scotland, United States, and

America's War on Same-Sex Couples and Their Families is a legal, political, and social history of constitutional amendments in twenty American states (with 43 percent of the nation's population) that prohibited government recognition of all forms of relationship rights (marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships) for same-sex couples. Based on 175 interviews with gay and lesbian pairs in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin, the volume has great human-interest value and chronicles how same-sex couples and their children coped within harsh legal environments. The work ends with a lively explanation of how the federal judiciary rescued these families from their own governments. In addition, the book provides a model of the grassroots circumstances under which harassed minority groups migrate out of oppressive state regimes, together with an estimate of the economic and other costs (to the refugees and their governments) of the flight from persecution.

America's War on Same-Sex Couples and Their Families is a legal, political, and social history of constitutional amendments in twenty American states (with 43 percent of the nation's population) that prohibited government recognition of all forms of relationship rights (marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships) for same-sex couples. Based on 175 interviews with gay and lesbian pairs in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin, the volume has great human-interest value and chronicles how same-sex couples and their children coped within harsh legal environments. The work ends with a lively explanation of how the federal judiciary rescued these families from their own governments. In addition, the book provides a model of the grassroots circumstances under which harassed minority groups migrate out of oppressive state regimes, together with an estimate of the economic and other costs (to the refugees and their governments) of the flight from persecution.

This wide-ranging comparative account of the legal regimes for controlling administrative power in England, the USA and Australia argues that differences and similarities between control regimes may be partly explained by the constitutional structures of the systems of government in which they are embedded. It applies social-scientific and historical methods to the comparative study of law and legal systems in a novel and innovative way, and combines accounts of long-term and large-scale patterns of power distribution with detailed analysis of features of administrative law and the administrative justice systems of three jurisdictions. It also proposes a new method of analysing systems of government based on two different models of the distribution of public power (diffusion and concentration), a model which proves more illuminating than traditional separation-of-powers analysis.

This wide-ranging comparative account of the legal regimes for controlling administrative power in England, the USA and Australia argues that differences and similarities between control regimes may be partly explained by the constitutional structures of the systems of government in which they are embedded. It applies social-scientific and historical methods to the comparative study of law and legal systems in a novel and innovative way, and combines accounts of long-term and large-scale patterns of power distribution with detailed analysis of features of administrative law and the administrative justice systems of three jurisdictions. It also proposes a new method of analysing systems of government based on two different models of the distribution of public power (diffusion and concentration), a model which proves more illuminating than traditional separation-of-powers analysis.

The leading manual on group-based treatment of substance use disorders, this highly practical book is grounded in the transtheoretical model and emphasizes the experiential and behavioral processes of

In today's highly competitive market, organizations increasingly need to innovate in order to survive. Drawing on a wealth of psychological research in the field of creativity, David H. Cropley and Arthur J. Cropley illustrate practical methods for conceptualizing and managing organizational innovation. They present a dynamic model of the interactions between four key components of creativity - product, person, process, and press - which function as building blocks of innovation. This volume sheds new light on the nature of innovative products and the processes that generate them, the psychological characteristics of innovative people, and the environments that facilitate innovation. It also fills a significant gap in the current literature by addressing the paradoxical quality of organizational innovation, which may be both helped and hindered by the same factors. The authors demonstrate that with proper measurement and management, organizations can effectively encourage individuals t

In today's highly competitive market, organizations increasingly need to innovate in order to survive. Drawing on a wealth of psychological research in the field of creativity, David H. Cropley and Arthur J. Cropley illustrate practical methods for conceptualizing and managing organizational innovation. They present a dynamic model of the interactions between four key components of creativity - product, person, process, and press - which function as building blocks of innovation. This volume sheds new light on the nature of innovative products and the processes that generate them, the psychological characteristics of innovative people, and the environments that facilitate innovation. It also fills a significant gap in the current literature by addressing the paradoxical quality of organizational innovation, which may be both helped and hindered by the same factors. The authors demonstrate that with proper measurement and management, organizations can effectively encourage individuals t

This book focuses on guidelines for reducing the energy consumption in warehousing processes. It presents a model of formal assessment for energy consumption in the context of storage-system logistics

Private companies exert considerable control over the flow of information on the internet. Whether users are finding information with a search engine, communicating on a social networking site or accessing the internet through an ISP, access to participation can be blocked, channelled, edited or personalised. Such gatekeepers are powerful forces in facilitating or hindering freedom of expression online. This is problematic for a human rights system which has historically treated human rights as a government responsibility, and this is compounded by the largely light-touch regulatory approach to the internet in the West. Regulating Speech in Cyberspace explores how these gatekeepers operate at the intersection of three fields of study: regulation (more broadly, law), corporate social responsibility and human rights. It proposes an alternative corporate governance model for speech regulation, one that acts as a template for the increasingly common use of non-state-based models of governa