Aging, shaking, and cracking of infrastructures : From mechanics to concrete dams and nuclear structures
Focuses on the safety assessment of existing structures subjected to multi-hazard scenarios through advanced numerical methods. Whereas the focus is on concrete dams and nuclear containment structures, the presented methodologies can also be applied to other large-scale ones. This book is composed of seven sections: Fundamentals: theoretical coverage of solid mechnics, plasticity, fracture mechanics, creep, / seismology, dynamic analysis, probability and statistics / Damage: that can affect concrete structures, such as cracking of concrete, AAR, chloride ingress, and rebar corrosion, / Finite Element: formulation for both linear and nonlinear analysis including stress, heat and fracture mechanics, / Engineering Models: for soil/fluid-structure interaction, uncertainty quantification, probablilistic and random finite element analysis, machine learning, performance based earthquake engineering, ground motion intensity measures, seismic hazard analysis, capacity/fragility functions and damage indeces, / Applications to dams through potential failure mode analyses, risk-informed decision making, deterministic and probabilistic examples, / Applications to nuclear structures through modeling issues, aging management programs, critical review of some analyses, / Other applications and case studies: massive RC structures and bridges, detailed assessment of a nuclear containment structure evaluation for license renewal.
Advances in Mechanics of Materials for Environmental and Civil Engineering
Deals with both mathematical modeling and experimental studies related to systems relevant for various civil engineering fields. The book addresses several key topics, including artificial intelligence applied to the control and monitoring of construction site personnel, finite element models for endplate beam-to-column connections under various load conditions, random functionally graded micropolar beams, and many others. The book explores the design and study of microstructures aimed at increasing the toughness and durability of novel materials in building and construction, based also on the re-utilization of residues and wastes of metallurgical industry produces.
Advances in Control, Signal Processing and Energy Systems : Select Proceedings of CSPES 2018
Covers topics on both theoretical control systems and their applications across engineering domains such as automatic control, robotics, and adaptive controller design. It discusses several signal processing domains such as image, speech, biomedical signal processing and their applications in IOT, control, robotics, power and energy systems. The book emphasizes both conventional and non-conventional energy, environment, and green processes as related to energy and power systems engineering.
Mathematical Formulas for Economists
This collection of formulas constitutes a compendium of mathematics for eco nomics and business. It contains the most important formulas, statements and algorithms in this significant subfield of modern mathematics and addresses primarily students of economics or business at universities, colleges and trade schools. But people dealing with practical or applied problems will also find this collection to be an efiicient and easy-to-use work of reference. First the book treats mathematical symbols and constants, sets and state ments, number systems and their arithmetic as well as fundamentals of com binatorics. The chapter on sequences and series is followed by mathematics of finance, the representation of functions of one and several independent vari ables, their differential and integral calculus and by differential and difference equations. In each case special emphasis is placed on applications and models in economics. The chapter on linear algebra deals with matrices, vectors, determinants and systems of linear equations. This is followed by the representation of struc tures and algorithms of linear programming. Finally, the reader finds formu las on descriptive statistics (data analysis, ratios, inventory and time series analysis), on probability theory (events, probabilities, random variables and distributions) and on inductive statistics (point and interval estimates, tests). Some important tables complete the work.
Masterpieces of Swiss Entrepreneurship : Swiss SMEs Competing in Global Markets
This book focuses on Switzerland-based medium-sized companies with a longstanding export tradition and a proven dominance in global niche markets. Based upon in-depth documentation and analysis of 36 Swiss companies over their entire history, an expert team of authors presents several parallels in the pathways and success factors which allowed these firms to become dominant and operate from a high-cost location such as Switzerland.
Managing Humans : More Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manage
Expands on the previous editions’ explorations of management essentials including handling stress, building diverse teams, running inclusive meetings, and how to lead in times of crisis. The education of a great leader never stops, and Lopp applies crucial insights to help continue your never-ending leadership education. Whether it is approaching a myriad of engineering personalities or handling unexpected conflict, you will come away with the wisdom to handle any team situation.
Managing Elevated Risk : Global Liquidity, Capital Flows, and Macroprudential Policy—An Asian Perspective
Discusses the risks and opportunities that arise in Emerging Asia given the context of a new environment in global liquidity and capital flows. It elaborates on the need to ensure financial and overall economic stability in the region through improved financial regulation and other policy measures to minimize the emergent risks. "Managing Elevated Risk: Global Liquidity, Capital Flows, and Macroprudential Policy—An Asian Perspective" also explores the range of policy options that may be deployed to address the impact of global liquidity on domestic financial and socio-economic conditions including income inequality. The book is primarily aimed at policy makers, financial market regulators and supervisory agencies to help them improve national regulatory systems and to promote harmonization of national regulations and practices in line with global standards.
Managing Distributed Cloud Applications and Infrastructure : A Self-Optimising Approach
The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), combined with greater heterogeneity not only online in cloud computing architectures but across the cloud-to-edge continuum, is introducing new challenges for managing applications and infrastructure across this continuum.
Managing Business Interfaces : Marketing and Engineering Issues in the Supply Chain and Internet Domains
Within companies and organizations there is an increased emphasis on making different functional areas work together seamlessly. These developments have led to an increased emphasis on research and practice in business that integrate the functional areas within and between business entities. The research community has recognized the importance of addressing these different, and often conflicting, business perspectives. This has led to research streams that address issues characterizing the domain of business interfaces. These include the benefits of coordination, new product development, product portfolio management, supply chain coordination, and partnerships and collaboration in the Internet space.
Management by Measurement : Designing Key Indicators and Performance Measurement Systems
The selection of good performance indicators is not an easy process. This monograph focuses on the designing of a Performance Measurement System (PMS), knowing that "magic rules" to identify them do not exist. Some indicators seem right and easy to measure, but have subtle, counter-productive consequences. Other indicators are more difficult to measure, but focus the enterprise on those decisions and actions that are critical to success. This book suggests how to identify indicators that achieve a balance in these effects and enhance long-term profitability.
Making European Merger Policy More Predictable
Making European Merger Policy More Predictable analyses European Merger Control with regard to its capacity to generate predictability among the concerned parties. Starting from the premise that predictability is of overwhelming importance for the functioning of market economies, Voigt and Schmidt ask to what degree European Merger Control has been predictable over the last couple of years. The authors show both theoretically and empirically that there have been serious shortcomings with regard to the predictability of competition policy. They identify the insufficient recognition of the consequences of globalization on the competitive processes as well as an often inconsistent application of economic theory as the root causes for the lack of predictability. The inconsistent application of economic theory is particularly relevant with regard to potential competition and the evaluation of collective dominance. The authors generate a substantial number of proposals that could help to improve predictability. On this basis, Voigt and Schmidt critically assess the recent reforms of European Merger Control.
Competence of Top Management Teams and Success of New Technology-Based Firms : A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis Concerning Competencies of Entrepreneurial Teams and the Development of Their Ventures
In his book, Jan Brinckmann develops a comprehensive competence concept for new technology-based firms. It is grounded in competence-related literature combining insights from entrepreneurship and management research. The competence concept comprises three domains: general entrepreneurial competencies, social competencies, and functional competencies in technology, marketing, and financial management. A measurement model is developed to specify the contents of each sub-domain and to facilitate self-assessment of these competencies. In an empirical study, 212 executives of German NTBFs assessed their team’s competencies. This data is analyzed using structural equation modelling to identify the most relevant competencies for new venture success.
Cellular Genetic Algorithms
CELLULAR GENETIC ALGORITHMS defines a new class of optimization algorithms based on the concepts of structured populations and Genetic Algorithms (GAs). The authors explain and demonstrate the validity of these cellular genetic algorithms throughout the book. This class of genetic algorithms is shown to produce impressive results on a whole range of domains, including complex problems that are epistatic, multi-modal, deceptive, discrete, continuous, multi-objective, and random in nature. The focus of this book is twofold. On the one hand, the authors present new algorithmic models and extensions to the basic class of Cellular GAs in order to tackle complex problems more efficiently. On the other hand, practical real world tasks are successfully faced by applying Cellular GA methodologies to produce workable solutions of real-world applications.
Building a Future with BRICs : The Next Decade for Offshoring
In 2003, Goldman Sachs published a startling report on the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) region: These four countries would be larger than the G6 economics within 40 years, muscling their way to economic dominance over the coming decades, and powering past developed countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. This book focuses on the technology and technology-enabled services that underpin this social and economic revolution. The editor analyses the reasons why these four countries are in a unique position to lead a 21st century growth in international services. He then features 12 chapters written by the most important chief executives from the BRICs service economy. Indian technology leaders, such as Nandan Nilekani (Infosys), Shiv Nadar (HCL), and Rajendra Pawar (NIIT), feature alongside their peers from Brazil, Russia, and China outlining their views on the next decade for offshoring.
Applied Research in Uncertainty Modeling and Analysis
For a long time uncertainty has been considered synonymous with random, stochastic, statistic, or probabilistic. Since the early sixties views on uncertainty have become more heterogeneous. In the past forty years numerous tools that model uncertainty, above and beyond statistics, have been proposed by several engineers and scientists. The tool/method to model uncertainty in a specific context should really be chosen by considering the features of the phenomenon under consideration, not independent of what is known about the system and what causes uncertainty. In this fascinating overview of the field, the authors provide broad coverage of uncertainty analysis/modeling and its application. Applied Research in Uncertainty Modeling and Analysis presents the perspectives of various researchers and practitioners on uncertainty analysis and modeling outside their own fields and domain expertise. Rather than focusing explicitly on theory, the authors use real-world examples to demonstrate the strength of the chosen methodology. Applied Research in Uncertainty Modeling and Analysis concentrates on general aspects of uncertainty, modeling, and methods, and focuses on various applications, included Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Structural Engineering, and Transportation Engineering.
Americanization of the European Economy : A compact survey of American economic influence in Europe since the 1800s
Provides a comprehensive yet compact survey of the growth of American economic influence in Europe since the 1880s. Three distinct but cumulative waves of Americanization are identified. Americanization was (and still is) a complex process of technological, political, and cultural transfer, and this overview explains why and how the USA and the American model of industrial capitalism came to be accepted as the dominant paradigm of political economy in today's Europe. Americanization of the European Economy summarizes the ongoing discussion by business historians, sociologists, and political scientists and makes it accessible to all types of readers who are interested in political and economic development.
Agent-Based Models of Energy Investment Decisions
This book demonstrates how bounded rational decision models can be standardized and parameterized by socio-economic data. Focusing on private energy technology investment decisions, the author shows how different representative agents can be constructed using search rules, analysis tools and decision strategies. Diffusion curves for energy technologies such as solar collectors, boilers and efficiency upgrades for buildings are calculated. Further, the model is extended to study the impact of firms’ competition on technology diffusion. The modeling approach presented in this book may serve as a template for applications in other domain.
Advertising culture and translation : From colonial to global
A first comprehensive study combining and integrating advertising, culture and translation within the framework of colonial, Commonwealth, and postcolonial studies, and globalization. It addresses a number of controversial issues evident in two relatively young disciplines, as a result of decades of research and teaching in university courses. A cross-cultural approach to translational issues and the translatability of advertising cohesively is adopted here, exploring the dynamics of the conflict between the 'centre' and the 'periphery'. It introduces the concept of advertising English as lingua franca (AELF), marking new trends in the domain of varieties of English around the world (VEAW). The data examined here show the ambivalent polarity conditioning advertising and translation: both have been mutually exclusive, and both have been subject to bans, censorship and ideological control, racism, propaganda, and stereotyping. In their fundamental principles and concepts of theories and applications, however, neither discipline cannot exist outside a free market and total freedom of expression and trust
Advances in Crowdfunding : Research and Practice
This book presents a comprehensive and up-to-date collection of knowledge on the state of crowdfunding research and practice. It considers crowdfunding models and their different manifestations across a variety of geographies and sectors, and explores the perspectives of fundraisers, backers, platforms, and regulators.
Absolute Essentials of Business Behavioural Ethics
Behavioural ethics in business is an emerging field that has challenged some of the established wisdom about ethics and added some truly new insights into our understanding about decision-making and behaviour. This concise textbook is ideal for use in the classroom as core or additional reading on courses in business ethics and corporate social responsibility; organisational behaviour and psychology; and any module with ethics content (for example, accounting ethics and strategic management).



















