Nanotechnology for Smart Concrete
Nanomaterials can markedly improve the mechanical properties of concrete, as well as reduce the porosity and enhance the durability of concrete. The application of nanotechnology in concrete is still in its infancy. However, an ever-growing demand for ultra-high-performance concrete and recurring environmental pollution caused by ordinary Portland cement has encouraged engineers to exploit nanotechnology in the construction industry. Nanotechnology for Smart Concrete discusses the advantages and applications of nanomaterials in the concrete industry, including high-strength performance, microstructural improvement, self-healing, energy storage, and coatings. The book: Analyses the linkage of concrete materials with nanomaterials and nanostructures / Discusses the applications of nanomaterials in the concrete industry, including energy storage in green buildings, anti-corrosive coatings, and inhibiting pathogens and viruses / Covers self-healing concrete / Explores safety considerations, sustainability, and environmental impact of nanoconcrete / Includes an appendix of solved questions
Current concept in cleft surgery : Moving toward excellence of outcome and reducing the burden of care
Intends to cover cleft-related topics which are mainly focused on the current concept of balancing excellence in outcome and burden of cleft care. The wide spectrum of covered topics includes the understanding challenges and needs to deliver the modern surgical cleft care worldwide and comprehending multidisciplinary-based longitudinal life-changing concept.
Computing Meaning : Vol.3
This book provides an in-depth view of the current issues, problems and approaches in the computation of meaning as expressed in language. Aimed at linguists, computer scientists, and logicians with an interest in the computation of meaning, this book focuses on two main topics in recent research in computational semantics. The first topic is the definition and use of underspecified semantic representations, i.e. formal structures that represent part of the meaning of a linguistic object while leaving other parts unspecified. The second topic discussed is semantic annotation. Annotated corpora have become an indispensable resource both for linguists and for developers of language and speech technology, especially when used in combination with machine learning methods. The annotation in corpora has only marginally addressed semantic information, however, since semantic annotation methodologies are still in their infancy. This book discusses the development and application of such methodologies.
Children's Exploration and Cultural Formation
This book examines the educational conditions that support cultures of exploration in kindergartens. It conceptualises cultures of exploration, whether those cultures are created through children’s own engagement or are demanded of them through undertaking specific tasks within different institutional settings.
Calibrating the Cosmos : How Cosmology Explains Our Big Bang Universe
Calibrating the Cosmos describes hard science, but is gently written. It explains in clear, non-mathematical language the measurements and the interpretation of the resulting data that have led to the current understanding of the origin, evolution and properties of our expanding Big Bang universe. Many people have a sketchy idea of the work of cosmologists, but Professor Levin’s experience in teaching both scientific and liberal arts students has enabled him to impart much of our current thinking without resorting to difficult mathematics. Theoretical concepts are emphasized, in particular the symmetries of homogeneity and isotropy enjoyed by our universe on the largest scales, how these symmetries lead to only one quantity being needed to describe the growth of the universe from its infancy to the present time, and how the so-called parameters of the universe are the ingredients used to construct the model universes to which ours – the real thing – is compared.
Bioremediation of Soils Contaminated with Aromatic Compounds
Environmental biotechnology, which was in its infancy in the early 80's, has evolved thanks to the revolution brought about by molecular biology. Multiple successes in the biological cleanup of civil and industrial wastewater and of hydrocarbon soil pollution, demonstrate the vast power of clean technologies. In addition, the buildup of information on the activities of microorganisms as catalysts in all sorts of natural, industrial and animal environments has flourished. There is a continuing realization of the critical role of microbial processes in biological, industrial and geological systems. Since environmental biotechnology has matured, it is ready to tackle bigger challenges: the scaling up of many bioremediation systems still in progress, the search for novel biocatalysts for industrial applications, the continuing effort against common human life-threatening processes such as antibiotic resistance, the accumulation of hormone-mimicking substances (endocrine disrupters), the deposition of air-borne pesticides in the environment and, the degradation of recalcitrant contaminants. These endeavors will help prevent the contamination of food chains, protect human life and allow for human activity and economic development that do not compromise environmental sustainabijity.
Advances in web mining and web usage analysis ; 8th International workshop on knowledge discovery on the web, WebKDD 2006 Philadelphia, USA, August 20, 2006 Revised Papers
The discipline of data mining delivers methodologies and tools for the an- ysis of large data volumes and the extraction of comprehensible and non-trivial insights from them. Web mining, a much younger discipline, concentrates on the analysisofdata pertinentto the Web.Web mining methods areappliedonusage data and Web site content; they strive to improve our understanding of how the Web is used, to enhance usability and to promote mutual satisfaction between e-business venues and their potential customers.Many ofthe infancy problems in Web mining have been solvedby now, but the tremendous potential for new and improved uses, as well as misuses, of the Web are leading to new challenges.
Advances in web mining and web usage analysis ; 7th International workshop on knowledge discovery on the web, WEBKDD 2005, Chicago, IL, USA, August 21, 2005, Revised Papers
Thisbookcontainsthepostworkshopproceedingsofthe7thInternationalWo- shop on Knowledge Discovery from the Web, WEBKDD 2005. The WEBKDD workshop series takes place as part of the ACM SIGKDD International Conf- ence on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD) since 1999. The discipline of data mining delivers methodologies and tools for the an- ysis of large data volumes and the extraction of comprehensible and non-trivial insights from them. Web mining, a much younger discipline, concentrates on the analysisofdata pertinentto theWeb.Web mining methods areappliedonusage data and Web site content; they strive to improve our understanding of how the Web is used, to enhance usability and to promote mutual satisfaction between e-business venues and their potential customers. In the last years, the interest for the Web as medium for communication, interaction and business has led to new challenges and to intensive, dedicated research. Many of the infancy problems in Web mining have now been solved but the tremendous potential for new and improved uses, as well as misuses, of the Web are leading to new challenges.
Advanced technique and future perspective for next generation optical fiber communications
Optical fiber communication industry has gained unprecedented opportunities and achieved rapid progress in recent years. However, with the increase of data transmission volume and the enhancement of transmission demand, the optical communication field still needs to be upgraded to better meet the challenges in the future development. Artificial intelligence technology in optical communication and optical network is still in its infancy, but the existing achievements show great application potential. In the future, with the further development of artificial intelligence technology, AI algorithms combining channel characteristics and physical properties will shine in optical communication. This reprint introduces some recent advances in optical fiber communication and optical network, and provides alternative directions for the development of the next generation optical fiber communication technology.








