Nonlinear Dielectric Phenomena in Complex Liquids
Complex liquids constitute a basic element in modern materials science; their significant features include self-assembly, mesoscale structures, complex dynamics, unusual phases and enormous sensitivity to perturbations. Understanding their nature and properties are a great challenge to modern materials science that demands novel approaches. This book focuses on nonlinear dielectric phenomena, particularly on nonlinear dielectric spectroscopy (NDS), which may be considered a possible successor to broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS). NDS phenomena directly coupled to mesoscale heterogeneity fluctuations, so information obtained in this way is basically complementary to BDS tests. The book also discusses the application of NDS in a set of complex liquid systems: glassy liquids, liquid crystals, liquids with critical point phenomena, and bio-relevant liquids. The complementary application of NDS and BDS may allow the discovery of universal patterns for the whole category of complex liquids. Written by specialists in the field of nonlinear dielectric studies, theoreticians and experimentalists, ranging from solid state physics to biophysics, the book is organized so that it can serve as a basic textbook for a non-experienced reader.
Nonlinear and Optimal Control Theory : Lectures given at the C.I.M.E. Summer School held in Cetraro, Italy June 19–29, 2004
The lectures gathered in this volume present some of the different aspects of Mathematical Control Theory. Adopting the point of view of Geometric Control Theory and of Nonlinear Control Theory, the lectures focus on some aspects of the Optimization and Control of nonlinear, not necessarily smooth, dynamical systems. Specifically, three of the five lectures discuss respectively: logic-based switching control, sliding mode control and the input to the state stability paradigm for the control and stability of nonlinear systems. The remaining two lectures are devoted to Optimal Control: one investigates the connections between Optimal Control Theory, Dynamical Systems and Differential Geometry, while the second presents a very general version, in a non-smooth context, of the Pontryagin Maximum Principle.
Nonlinear and Adaptive Control with Applications
Nonlinear and Adaptive Control with Applications provides a detailed treatment of the design of robust adaptive controllers for nonlinear systems with uncertainties. The authors employ a new tool based on the ideas of system immersion and manifold invariance.
Nonlinear Analyses and Algorithms for Speech Processing ; International Conference on Non-Linear Speech Processing, NOLISP 2005, Barcelona, Spain, April 19-22, 2005, Revised Selected Papers
We present in this volume the collection of ?nally accepted papers of NOLISP 2005 conference. It has been the third event in a series of events related to N- linear speech processing, in the framework of the European COST action 277 “Nonlinear speech processing”. Many speci?cs of the speech signal are not well addressed by conv- tional models currently used in the ?eld of speech processing. The purpose of NOLISP is to present and discuss novel ideas, work and results related to alternative techniques for speech processing, which depart from mainstream approaches. With this intention in mind, we provide an open forum for discussion. Alt- nate approaches are appreciated, although the results achieved at present may not clearly surpass results based on state-of-the-art methods. The call for papers was launched at the beginning of 2005, addressing the following domains: 1. Non-Linear Approximation and Estimation 2. Non-Linear Oscillators and Predictors 3. Higher-Order Statistics 4. Independent Component Analysis 5. Nearest Neighbors 6. Neural Networks 7. Decision Trees 8. Non-Parametric Models 9. Dynamics of Non-Linear Systems 10. Fractal Methods 11. Chaos Modeling 12. Non-Linear Di?erential Equations 13. Others All the main ?elds of speech processing are targeted by the workshop, namely: 1. Speech Coding:Thebit rateavailablefor speechsignalsmustbe strictly l- ited in order to accommodate the constraints of the channel resource.
Noninvasive Vascular Diagnosis : A Practical Guide to Therapy
This book is the definitive text on the current techniques used in assessing vascular disorders. It covers all aspects of noninvasive evaluation of the circulatory system in the extremities. They are also guided through the establishment and accreditation of a vascular laboratory and introduced to the theories behind diagnostic testing. There has been expansion of the book by the inclusion of special sections dedicated to the practical clinical management of patients through the vascular laboratory. The book is therefore invaluable to all those working in vascular laboratories as well as cardiologists, general surgeons involved in vascular surgery and the vascular surgery and medicine community in general.
Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics and the Production of Entropy: Life, Earth, and Beyond
The present volume studies the application of concepts from non-equilibrium thermodynamics to a variety of research topics. Emphasis is on the Maximum Entropy Production (MEP) principle and applications to Geosphere-Biosphere couplings. Written by leading researchers form a wide range of background, the book proposed to give a first coherent account of an emerging field at the interface of thermodynamics, geophysics and life sciences.
Non-Equilibrium Social Science and Policy : Introduction and Essays on New and Changing Paradigms in Socio-Economic Thinking
The overall aim of this book, an outcome of the European FP7 FET Open NESS project, is to contribute to the ongoing effort to put the quantitative social sciences on a proper footing for the 21st century. A key focus is economics, and its implications on policy making, where the still dominant traditional approach increasingly struggles to capture the economic realities we observe in the world today - with vested interests getting too often in the way of real advances.Insights into behavioral economics and modern computing techniques have made possible both the integration of larger information sets and the exploration of disequilibrium behavior
Non-Equilibrium Phase Transitions ; Vol. I : Absorbing Phase Transitions
This book describes two main classes of non-equilibrium phase-transitions: (a) static and dynamics of transitions into an absorbing state, and (b) dynamical scaling in far-from-equilibrium relaxation behaviour and ageing. The first volume begins with an introductory chapter which recalls the main concepts of phase-transitions, set for the convenience of the reader in an equilibrium context. The extension to non-equilibrium systems is made by using directed percolation as the main paradigm of absorbing phase transitions and in view of the richness of the known results an entire chapter is devoted to it, including a discussion of recent experimental results. Scaling theories and a large set of both numerical and analytical methods for the study of non-equilibrium phase transitions are thoroughly discussed.
Non-destructive testing and evaluation of civil engineering structures
The non-destructive evaluation of civil engineering structures in reinforced concrete is becoming an increasingly important issue in this field of engineering. This book proposes innovative ways to deal with this problem, through the characterization of concrete durability indicators by the use of non-destructive techniques. It presents the description of the various non-destructive techniques and their combination for the evaluation of indicators. The processing of data issued from the combination of NDE methods is also illustrated through examples of data fusion methods.
Noncommutative Geometry and Number Theory : Where Arithmetic meets Geometry and Physics
This volume collects and presents up-to-date research topics in arithmetic and noncommutative geometry and ideas from physics that point to possible new connections between the fields of number theory, algebraic geometry and noncommutative geometry. The articles collected in this volume present new noncommutative geometry perspectives on classical topics of number theory and arithmetic such as modular forms, class field theory, the theory of reductive p-adic groups, Shimura varieties, the local Lfactors of arithmetic varieties. They also show how arithmetic appears naturally in noncommutative geometry and in physics, in the residues of Feynman graphs, in the properties of noncommutative tori, and in the quantum Hall effect.
Nonblocking Supervisory Control of State Tree Structures
This monograph proposes how to manage complexity by organizing the system as a State Tree Structure (STS). an efficient recursive symbolic algorithm is presented that can perform nonblocking supervisory control design in reasonable time and memory for complex systems.
Noise-Induced Transitions : Theory and Applications in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology
This classic text, an often-requested reprint, develops and explains the foundations of noise-induced processes. At its core is a self-contained, textbook-style presentation of the elements of probability theory, of the theory of Markovian diffusion processes and of the theory of stochastic differential equations, on which the modeling of fluctuating natural and artificial environments is based. Following an introduction to the mathematical tools, the occurrence and the properties of noise-induced transitions are then analyzed for rapidly fluctuating environments describable by the white-noise idealization. Subsequently, more realistic and general types of colored noises are considered. Appropriate practical methods for dealing with these situations are developed. The latter part of the book contains applications and experimental studies illustrating the many facets of noise-induced transitions. The following applications are considered in Noise-Induced Transitions: population dynamics, electrical circuits, chemical and photochemical reactions, non-linear optics, and hydrodynamical systems.
Noise-Induced Phenomena in Slow-Fast Dynamical Systems : A Sample-Paths Approach
Stochastic differential equations play an increasingly important role in modeling the dynamics of a large variety of systems in the natural sciences, and in technological applications. This book presents a new constructive approach to the quantitative description of solutions to systems of stochastic differential equations evolving on well-separated timescales. The method, which combines techniques from stochastic analysis and singular perturbation theory, allows the domains of concentration for typical sample paths to be determined, and provides precise estimates on the transition probabilities between these domains. In addition to the detailed presentation of the set-up and mathematical results, applications to problems in physics, biology, and climatology are discussed. The emphasis lies on noise-induced phenomena such as stochastic resonance, hysteresis, excitability, and the reduction of bifurcation delay.
Noise and Vibration Mitigation for Rail Transportation Systems ; Proceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Railway Noise, Munich, Germany, 4 - 8 September 2007
This volume contains the contributions to the 9th International Workshop on Railway Noise, held Sept 04-08, 2007, in Munich, Germany. The workshop featured lectures by international leaders in the field of railway noise and vibration. All subjects relating to railway noise as noise sources (rolling noise, aerodynamic noise, bridge noise, sonic boom), prediction tools and theoretical models, new noise reduction, technology as well as ground-borne vibration are tackled.
No Truth Without Beauty : God, the Qur’an, and Women's Rights
In this comprehensive book, written for readers from any or no religious background, Leena El-Ali does something remarkable. Never before has anyone taken on every last claim relating to Islam and women and countered it not just with Qur’anic evidence to the contrary, but with easy-to-use tools available to all.
No More Muddling Through : Mastering Complex Projects in Engineering and Management
Systems Engineering (SE) is a systematic way of thinking and a methodology to guide demanding problem-solving processes in the fields of management and engineering. This book explains the most important principles and elements of Systems Engineering and three planning cases demonstrate the practical application.
NMR-MRI, µSR and Mössbauer Spectroscopies in Molecular Magnets and magnetic nanoparticles
In this book an extensive overview on the results obtained during the last decade and on recent achievements in the study of molecular magnets by means of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Muon Spin Rotation, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Mossbauer techniques is presented. The aim is to introduce the reader to these techniques and to give a general background on their application to molecular spin systems.
NMR in Biological Systems : From Molecules to Human
During teaching NMR to students and researchers, we felt the need for a text-book which can cover modern trends in the application of NMR to biological systems. This book caters to the needs of: (i) graduate students who mostly learn such techniques from senior post-docs in the laboratory; (ii) those who are not experts in NMR but wish to understand if a particular problem in animal, plant, medical and pharmaceutical sciences can be answered by NMR; and (iii) those who are experts in chemistry and biochemistry and wish to know how NMR can provide them information on structural or functional aspect of proteins, nucleic acids, cells and tissues, human and plant organs and other biological materials.
NL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies 2020 : Deterrence in the 21st Century—Insights from Theory and Practice
This book surveys the state of the field to examine whether a fifth wave of deterrence theory is emerging. Bringing together insights from world-leading experts from three continents, the volume identifies the most pressing strategic challenges, frames theoretical concepts, and describes new strategies.
Nitrogen-fixing Actinorhizal Symbioses
This book is the self-contained sixth volume of a comprehensive series on nitrogen fixation. It presents the state-of-the-art in regards to actinorhizal symbioses. Like legumes, actinorhizal plants form root nodules that host nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria. However, because the macrosymbionts are, with one exception, woody plants rather than crop plants, actinorhizal symbioses are less well-known than legume symbioses to which they are phylogenetically related. Actinorhizal plants come from eight different families. This volume includes chapters that deal with all these aspects of the symbiosis and both symbionts plus their ecological role and use. Other chapters tackle the global distribution of different actinorhizal plants and their microsymbionts and how this impacts the question of co-evolution of the micro- and macrosymbionts as well as comparing the actinorhizal and leguminous symbioses.



















