This book offers an introduction to the research in several recently discovered and actively developing mathematical and mathematical physics areas. It focuses on: 1) Feynman integrals and modular functions, 2) hyperbolic and Lorentzian Kac-Moody algebras, related automorphic forms and applications to quantum gravity, 3) superconformal indices and elliptic hypergeometric integrals, related instanton partition functions, 4) moonshine, its arithmetic aspects, Jacobi forms, elliptic genus, and string theory, and 5) theory and applications of the elliptic Painleve equation, and aspects of Painleve equations in quantum field theories. All the topics covered are related to various partition functions emerging in different supersymmetric and ordinary quantum field theories in curved space-times of different (d=2,3,...,6) dimensions. Presenting multidisciplinary methods (localization, Borcherds products, theory of special functions, Cremona maps, etc) for treating a range of partition functions, the book is intended for graduate students and young postdocs interested in the interaction between quantum field theory and mathematics related to automorphic forms, representation theory, number theory and geometry, and mirror symmetry.
Environmental chemistry is a fast developing science aimed at deciphering fundamental mechanisms ruling the behaviour of pollutants in ecosystems. Applying this knowledge to current environmental issues leads to the remediation of environmental media, and to new, low energy, low emission, sustainable processes. Chapters review analysis and remediation of pollutants such as greenhouse gases, chiral pharmaceuticals, dyes, chlorinated organics, arsenic, toxic metals and pathogen in air, water, plant and soil. Several highlights include the overlooked impact of air pollutants from buildings for health risk, innovative remediation techniques such as bioreactors for gas treatment, electrochemical cleaning of pharmaceuticals, sequestration on Fe-Mn nodules, phytoremediation and photocatalytical inactivation of microbial pathogens. This book will be a valuable source of information for engineers and students developing novel applied techniques to monitor and clean pollutants in air, wastewater, soils and sediments.
This book provides insight into the Life Cycle Management (LCM) concept and the progress in its implementation. LCM is a management concept applied in industrial and service sectors to improve products and services, while enhancing the overall sustainability performance of business and its value chains. In this regard, LCM is an opportunity to differentiate through sustainability performance on the market place, working with all departments of a company such as research and development, procurement and marketing, and to enhance the collaboration with stakeholders along a company's value chain. LCM is used beyond short-term business success and aims at long-term achievements by minimizing environmental and socio-economic burden, while maximizing economic and social value.
This book expands on the classical statistical multivariate analysis theory by focusing on bilinear regression models, a class of models comprising the classical growth curve model and its extensions. In order to analyze the bilinear regression models in an interpretable way, concepts from linear models are extended and applied to tensor spaces. Further, the book considers decompositions of tensor products into natural subspaces, and addresses maximum likelihood estimation, residual analysis, influential observation analysis and testing hypotheses, where properties of estimators such as moments, asymptotic distributions or approximations of distributions are also studied. Throughout the text, examples and several analyzed data sets illustrate the different approaches, and fresh insights into classical multivariate analysis are provided. This monograph is of interest to researchers and Ph.D. students in mathematical statistics, signal processing and other fields where statistical multivariate analysis is utilized. It can also be used as a text for second graduate-level courses on multivariate analysis.
This book includes the texts of the survey lectures given by plenary speakers at the 11th International ISAAC Congress held in Växj, Sweden, on 14-18 August, 2017. It is the purpose of ISAAC to promote analysis, its applications, and its interaction with computation. Analysis is understood here in the broad sense of the word, including differential equations, integral equations, functional analysis, and function theory. With this objective, ISAAC organizes international Congresses for the presentation and discussion of research on analysis.
The plenary lectures in the present volume, authored by eminent specialists, are devoted to some exciting recent developments, topics including: local solvability for subprincipal type operators; fractional-order Laplacians; degenerate complex vector fields in the plane; lower bounds for pseudo-differential operators; a survey on Morrey spaces; localization operators in Signal Theory and Quantum Mechanics. Thanks to the accessible style used, readers only need a basic command of Calculus.
This book will appeal to scientists, teachers, and graduate students in Mathematics, in particular Mathematical Analysis, Probability and Statistics, Numerical Analysis and Mathematical Physics.
This book describes the importance of the goal and scope phase for the entire LCA study. In this first phase of the LCA framework (ISO standardized), the purpose of the assessment is defined and decisions are made about the details of the industrial system being studied and how the study will be conducted. Selecting impact categories, category indicators, characterization models, and peer review is decided during goal and scope definition. The book provides practical guidance and an overview of LCIA methods available in LCA software. Although not specified in the ISO standards, Attributional LCA and Consequential LCA are presented in order to appropriately determine the goal and scope of an assessment. The book closes with the interconnection between goal and scope definition and the interpretation phase. Example goal and scope documents for attributional and consequential LCAs are provided in the annexes.
Analog Circuit Design contains the contribution of 18 tutorials of the 18th workshop on Advances in Analog Circuit Design. Each part discusses a specific to-date topic on new and valuable design ideas in the area of analog circuit design. Each part is presented by six experts in that field and state of the art information is shared and overviewed. This book is number 18 in this successful series of Analog Circuit Design, providing valuable information and excellent overviews of: Smart Data Converters: Chaired by Prof. Arthur van Roermund, Eindhoven University of Technology, Filters on Chip: Chaired by Herman Casier, AMI Semiconductor Fellow, Multimode Transmitters: Chaired by Prof. M. Steyaert, Catholic University Leuven, Analog Circuit Design is an essential reference source for analog circuit designers and researchers wishing to keep abreast with the latest development in the field. The tutorial coverage also makes it suitable for use in an advanced design.
Flexible-electronics is rapidly finding many main-stream applications where low-cost, ruggedness, light weight, unconventional form factors and ease of manufacturability are just some of the important advantages over their conventional rigid-substrate counterparts. Flexible Electronics: Materials and Applications surveys the materials systems and processes that are used to fabricate devices that can be employed in a wide variety of applications, including flexible flat-panel displays, medical image sensors, photovoltaics, and electronic paper. Materials discussed range from polymeric semiconductors to nanotube transparent conductors, highlighting the important characteristics of each system and their target applications. An overview of the performance benchmarks for the different materials is given in order to allow a direct comparison of these different technologies. Furthermore, the devices and processes most suitable for given applications in flexible electronics are identified.
Topics covered include:
An overview and history of flexible electronics
Novel materials for solution-processable thin-film electronic devices and their properties
Low-temperature processing of conventional materials and devices on plastic foils
Novel techniques, such as printing and roll-to-roll processing, for large-area flexible electronics manufacturing
Materials and device physics relevant to flexible electronics
Device integration on flexible substrates
Mechanical and electronic characteristics for thin-film transistors and nano-scale transparent conductors on flexible platforms
Applications towards flexible displays, sensors, actuators, solar energy, radio-frequency identification, and micro-electro-mechanical systems
Written by leading researchers in the field, Flexible Electronics: Materials and Applications serves as a reference for researchers, engineers, and students interested in the characteristics, capabilities, and limitations of these exciting materials and emerging applications.
Forewords by Claes-Gran Granqvist, Uppsala University, Sweden, and Neal F. Lane, Rice University, TexasNanomaterials inevitably have bright prospects, but even now they play an important role in many areas of industry. Some of these new materials are commercially available and are used in off the shelf products, others are important model systems for physicochemical and materials science research. However, research findings and application data are not compiled in a single work. The Springer Handbook of Nanomaterials collects description and data of materials which have dimensions on the nanoscale. The description of nanomaterials follows the interplay of structure, properties, processing and applications mainly in their solid phase. The chapters were arranged according to the classical materials-science classifications: carbon materials, metals, ceramics, composites, and biomaterials. For each part, materials structures represent different dimensionality; zero-dimensional clusters, nanoparticles and quantum dots, one-dimensional nanowires and nanotubes, and two-dimensional thin films and surfaces. Combinations cover for instance nanostructured and hybrid materials. Almost 100 leading scientists from academia and the industry were selected to write the 32 chapters and collect the physical, chemical and mechanical data. The handbook was written and compiled for professionals and practitioners, materials scientists, physicists and chemists at universities, as well as in the fields of industrial research and production.The Handbook is organized in seven parts. Part A: NanoCarbons. Part B: NanoMetals. Part C: NanoCeramics. Part D: NanoComposits. Part E: Nanoporous Materials. Part F: Organic and Biomaterilas. Part G: Applications and Impact.
Bimetallic nanoparticles, also called nanoalloys, are at the heart of nanoscience because of their ability to tune together composition and size for specific purposes. By approaching both their physical and chemical properties, Nanoalloys: Synthesis, Structure & Properties provides a comprehensive reference to this research field in nanoscience by addressing the subject from both experimental and theoretical points of view, providing chapters across three main topics:
Growth and structural properties
Thermodynamics and electronic structure of nanoalloys
Magnetic, optic and catalytic propertiesThe growth and elaboration processes which are the necessary and crucial part of any experimental approach are detailed in the first chapter. Three chapters are focused on the widely used characterization techniques sensitive to both the structural arrangements and chemistry of nanoalloys. The electronic structure of nanoalloys is described as a guide of useful concepts and theoretical tools. Chapters covering thermodynamics begin with bulk alloys, going to nanoalloys via surfaces in order to describe chemical order/disorder, segregation and phase transitions in reduced dimension. Finally, the optical, magnetic and catalytic properties are discussed by focusing on nanoparticles formed with one element to track the modifications which occur when forming nanoalloys. The range and detail of Nanoalloys: Synthesis, Structure & Properties makes it an ideal resource for postgraduates and researchers working in the field of nanoscience looking to expand and support their knowledge of nanoalloys.
The ever increasing emission of carbon dioxide due to rapid industrialization, urbanization, unplanned tourism and alteration of land use pattern is causing unprecedented changes to marine biodiversity. Irrespective of political philosophy, nation, caste, sex and religion, mankind is under the appalling shadow of climate change. Today nature-based approaches for the mitigation of climate change are increasingly accepted as part of the low-cost solution. Thrust has been given by several scientific communities to assess the magnitude and viability of carbon sequestering potential of plants. Coastal producer communities like mangroves, salt marsh grass, seagrass beds, and seaweeds absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide during the process of photosynthesis. This carbon known as the `blue carbon' is thus associated with the marine and estuarine ecosystems. However, a number of gaps in our scientific knowledge on blue carbon domain still exist. Molluscs, coral reefs, phytoplankton, which are amongst the important storehouses of carbon, have not been addressed. Very few scientific studies on the carbon stored in these valuable natural vaults have been performed, and no data bank is available on their carbon sequestering capacity on global basis. The methodologies for assessing blue carbon stock also need further standardization so that credit from blue carbon reservoir is accepted by the International bodies in the form of a concrete policy. It is a matter of great appreciation that Conservation International (CI), the International Union for Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN), and the Intergovernmental Oceanic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO is collaborating with governments, research institutions, non-governmental and international organizations, and communities around the world to develop management approaches, financial incentives and policy mechanisms for ensuring conservation and restoration of blue carbon ecosystems and implement projects around the world that demonstrate the feasibility of blue carbon accounting, management, and incentive agreements. The present book has critically presented the data bank for each community of blue carbon not merely in the form of text description, but also through case studies that are the outcomes of research projects and pilot programmes.
This volume contains the proceedings of the IUTAM Symposium on Model Order Reduction of Coupled System, held in Stuttgart, Germany, May 22-25, 2018.
For the understanding and development of complex technical systems, such as the human body or mechatronic systems, an integrated, multiphysics and multidisciplinary view is essential. Many problems can be solved within one physical domain. For the simulation and optimization of the combined system, the different domains are connected with each other. Very often, the combination is only possible by using reduced order models such that the large-scale dynamical system is approximated with a system of much smaller dimension where the most dominant features of the large-scale system are retained as much as possible.
The field of model order reduction (MOR) is interdisciplinary. Researchers from Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science identify, explore and compare the potentials, challenges and limitations of recent and new advances.
These conference proceedings are the output of one of the first academic events of its nature happening globally, targeting fashion from a communication sciences perspective, including, in a broad sense, cultural heritage studies and marketing. The chapters present theoretical and empirical interdisciplinary work on how various communication practices impact the fashion industry and on societal fashion-related practices and values. The special focus of this volume is how digital transformation is changing the field and its utility to practitioners. Using these academic insights, practitioners can understand the core causes and reasons for trends and developments in the field of fashion communication and marketing.
This book explains the conversion of solar energy to chemical energy and its storage. It covers the basic background; interface modeling at the reacting surface; energy conversion with chemical, electrochemical and photoelectrochemical approaches and energy conversion using applied photosynthesis. The important concepts for converting solar to chemical energy are based on an understanding of the reactions' equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions. Since the energy conversion is essentially the transfer of free energy, the process are explained in the context of thermodynamics.
In this book the longitudinal behavior of road vehicles is analyzed. The main emphasis is on the analysis and minimization of the fuel and energy consumption. Most approaches to this problem enhance the complexity of the vehicle system by adding components such as electrical motors or storage devices. Such a complex system can only be designed by means of mathematical models. This text gives an introduction to the modeling and optimization problems typically encountered when designing new propulsion systems for passenger cars. It is intended for persons interested in the analysis and optimization of classical and novel vehicle propulsion systems. Its focus lies on the control-oriented mathematical description of the physical processes and on the model-based optimization of the system structure and of the supervisory control algorithms. This text has evolved from a lecture series at ETH Zurich. Prerequisites are general engineering topics and a first course in optimal control theory.
This book introduces readers to the main types of corporate sustainability practices. The first section examines both the ratings provided by international agencies and the various ESG (Environmental, Social and Government) indexes existing at 2021. In turn, the second part empirically investigates the relationship between the level of corporate sustainability and corporate financial performance among the large companies listed on the Milan Exchange FTSE-MIB 40 index for 2015-2019.
The book offers a comprehensive overview of current sustainability concepts and practices and illustrates how various companies are seeking to integrate them in their competitive strategy. Further, it fills a gap in the extant literature by analysing the origins, historical evolution and structure of the main rating agencies and ESG indexes. In addition, the empirical analysis of corporate sustainability's impact on companies' financial performance reveals the importance of collegial leadership - a commonly found feature of Italian family businesses that has not been considered in previous studies - as a moderating factor for reconciling sustainability initiatives and performance at family-run firms.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have transformed many standard and conventional methods in undertaking health and well-being issues of humans. AL/ML-based systems and tools play a critical role in this digital and big data era to address a variety of medical and healthcare problems, improving treatments and quality of care for patients. This edition on AI and ML for healthcare consists of two volumes. The first presents selected AI and ML studies on medical imaging and healthcare data analytics, while the second unveils emerging methodologies and trends in AI and ML for delivering better medical treatments and healthcare services in the future.In this first volume, progresses in AI and ML technologies for medical image, video, and signal processing as well as health information and data analytics are presented. These selected studies offer readers theoretical and practical knowledge and ideas pertaining to recent advances in AI and ML for effective and efficient image and data analytics, leading to state-of-the-art AI and ML technologies for advancing the healthcare sector.
This book helps transform the awareness of the anticipatory perspective into actionable methods for practitioners of medicine. It provides guidance for those who design new means and methods inspired by epigenetics, in particular to those who advance sustainable alternatives.
Die vorliegende Arbeit thematisiert Herausforderungen unternehmerischer Entscheidungen unter Unsicherheit. Sie behandelt die in der aktuellen Forschung einseitige Fokussierung auf Effectuation und Causation und problematisiert deren unzureichende Mikrofundierungen. Die Arbeit greift die mangelnde Trennschärfe der genannten Entscheidungslogiken und deren erschwerten Praxistransfer auf und bearbeitet sie schwerpunktmäßig wie folgt:- Umfassende Illustration und Beschreibung empirischer Arbeiten zu Effectuation und Causation zwischen 1998 und 2020 (N=93)- Revision gängiger Entscheidungsparadigmen (Effectuation und Causation) und Erweiterung (Improvisation, Bricolage, Trial & Error)- Rekonzeptualisierung des Unsicherheitsbegriffes und Erzeugung eines holistischen Kontingenzrahmens- Synthese von Wissenstypen zur Bearbeitung von Kontingenz- Ableitung eines Kontingenz-, Kognitions-, Strukturdeterminanten-Schemas (KKS-Schema) zur Einordnung von Entscheidungssituationen abhängig von Kontingenz und zur Ableitung idealtypischer Entscheidungslogiken
The book discusses hidden symmetries in the Anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory (AdS/CFT) duality. This duality is a modern concept that asserts an exact duality between conformally invariant quantum field theories and string theories in higher dimensional Anti-de Sitter spaces, and in this way provides a completely new tool for the study of strongly coupled quantum field theories. In this setting, the book focuses on the Wilson loop, an important observable in four-dimensional maximally supersymmetric gauge theory. The dual string description using minimal surfaces enables a systematic study of the hidden symmetries of the loop. The book presents major findings, including the discovery of a master symmetry for strings in general symmetric spaces, its relation to the Yangian symmetry algebra and its action on the minimal surfaces appearing in the dual string description of the Wilson loop. Moreover, it clarifies why certain symmetries are not present on the gauge theory side for purely bosonic Wilson loops and, lastly, how the supersymmetrization of the minimal surface problem for type IIB superstrings can be undertaken. As such, it substantially increases our understanding and use of infinite dimensional symmetries occurring in the AdS/CFT correspondence.
This book provides an overview of the risk components of CoCo bonds. CoCos are hybrid financial instruments that convert into equity or suffer a write-down of the face value upon the appearance of a trigger event. The loss-absorption mechanism is automatically enforced either via the breaching of a particular accounting ratio, typically in terms of the Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio, or via a regulatory trigger.
CoCos are non-standardised instruments with different loss-absorption and trigger mechanisms. They might also contain additional features such as the cancellation of coupon payments.
Different pricing models are discussed in detail. These models use market data such as share prices, CDS levels and implied volatility in order to calculate the theoretical price of a CoCo bond and its sensitivities, providing the investor with insides to hedge from adverse changes in the market conditions.
The audience are professionals as well as academics who want to learn how to risk manage CoCo bonds using cutting edge techniques as well as all the risk involved in CoCo bonds.
This book highlights two essential analyses of data collected during the LHCb experiment, based on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The first comprises the first observation and studies of matter-antimatter asymmetries in two three-body b-baryon decays, paving the way for more precise measurements of the relatively unknown decay properties of b-baryon decays. The second is an analysis of a charged B meson decay to three charged pions, where previously large matter-antimatter asymmetries were observed in a model-independent analysis. Here a model of the decay amplitude is constructed using the unitarity-conserving `K-matrix' model for the scalar contributions, so as to gain an understanding of how the previously observed matter-antimatter asymmetries arise; further, the model's construction yields the most precise and comprehensive study of this decay mode to date.
The book explores the phenomenon of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), the huge amplification of Raman signal from molecules in the proximity of a metallic nanostructured surface, allowing readers to gain an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms affecting the spectroscopic response of SERS-active systems for effective applications. SERS spectroscopy is an ultrasensitive analytical technique with great potential for applications in the field of biophysics and nanomedicine. As examples, the author presents the design of nanocolloid-based SERS-active substrates for molecular sensing and of a folate-based SERS-active nanosensor capable of selectively interacting with cancer cells, enabling cancer diagnostics and therapy at the single-cell level. The author also suggests novel paths for the systematization of the SERS nanosystem design and experimental protocols to maximize sensitivity and reproducibility, which is essential when real-world biomedical applications are the goal of the study. With a combined approach, both fundamental and applied, and a detailed analysis of the state of the art, this book provides a valuable overview both for students new to SERS spectroscopy and for experts in the field.
Advances in molecular biology and genome research in the form of molecular breeding and genetic engineering put forward innovative prospects for improving productivity of many pulses crops. Pathways have been discovered, which include regulatory elements that modulate stress responses (e.g., transcription factors and protein kinases) and functional genes, which guard the cells (e.g., enzymes for generating protective metabolites and proteins). In addition, numerous quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with elevated stress tolerance have been cloned, resulting in the detection of critical genes for stress tolerance. Together these networks can be used to enhance stress tolerance in pulses. This book summarizes recent advances in pulse research for increasing productivity, improving biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, and enhancing nutritional quality.
