Photonic Crystals : Towards Nanoscale Photonic Devices
Just like the periodical crystalline potential in solid state crystals determines their properties for the conduction of electrons, the periodical structuring of photonic crystals leads to envisioning the possibility of achieving a control of the photon flux in dielectric and metallic materials. The use of photonic crystals as cages for storing, filtering or guiding light at the wavelength scale paves the way to the realization of optical and optoelectronic devices with ultimate properties and dimensions. This will contribute towards meeting the demands for greater miniaturization imposed by the processing of an ever increasing number of data.
Photonic Crystals : Towards Nanoscale Photonic Devices
Just like the periodical crystalline potential in solid-state crystals determines their properties for the conduction of electrons, the periodical structuring of photonic crystals leads to envisioning the possibility of achieving a control of the photon flux in dielectric and metallic materials. The use of photonic crystals as a cage for storing, filtering or guiding light at the wavelength scale thus paves the way to the realisation of optical and optoelectronic devices with ultimate properties and dimensions. This should contribute toward meeting the demands for a greater miniaturisation that the processing of an ever increasing number of data requires. Photonic Crystals intends at providing students and researchers from different fields with the theoretical background needed for modelling photonic crystals and their optical properties, while at the same time presenting the large variety of devices, from optics to microwaves, where photonic crystals have found applications. As such, it aims at building bridges between optics, electromagnetism and solid-state physics.
Photon-based Nanoscience and Nanobiotechnology
Light has always played a significant role in the synthesis of materials and formation of small-scale solid structures. The invention of holographic and phase mask projection has enabled engineers to fabricate devices with characteristic features much smaller than the wavelength of the light used for processing. A further reduction of device dimensions has been achieved by implementing the processes that rely strongly on the non-linear effects of light-matter interaction. The intention of this book was to provide the Reader, primarily graduate students and young researchers in materials engineering, bio(chem)physics, medical physics and biophysics, with a set of articles reviewing state-of-the art research and recent advancements in the field of photon-matter interaction for micro/nanomaterials synthesis and manipulation of properties of biological and inorganic materials at the atomic level.
Philosophical Dimensions in Mathematics Education
Philosophical Dimensions in Mathematics Education brings together diverse recent developments exploring philosophy of mathematics in education. The unique combination of ethnomathematics, philosophy, history, education, statistics and mathematics offers a variety of different perspectives from which existing boundaries in mathematics education can be extended. The ten chapters in Philosophical Dimensions in Mathematics Education offer a balance between philosophy of and philosophy in mathematics education. Attention is paid to the implementation of a philosophy of mathematics within the mathematics curriculum to become a philosophy in mathematics education. In doing so, many chapters provide ideas for actual practice and some practical examples directly usable in teacher training and in mathematics classrooms.
Overexploitation and Contamination of Shared Groundwater Resources : Management, (Bio)Technological, and Political Approaches to Avoid Conflicts
The aim of the book is to contribute to the knowledge of shared groundwater resources management to avoid conflicts by considering multi-disciplinary approaches based on effective and equitable water sharing for all water users. The scope of the book covers the hydrogeological, environmental, (bio)technological and management aspects of shared groundwater resources integrating social, economic and political dimensions as well as legal and educational perspectives.
Organizational Mastery : The Impact of Strategic Leadership and Organizational Ambidexterity on Organizational Agility
Examines the impact of strategic leadership and organizational ambidexterity skills on the strategic agility of a particular organization in four parts. In the first part, the concept of ambidexterity is discussed and the issue of organizational ambidexterity is explained with its dimensions. In the second part, the concept of strategic leadership is expanded upon, first conceptually and then across five dimensions: managerial strategic leadership, transformational strategic leadership, political strategic leadership, communicative strategic leadership, and ethical strategic leadership. The third part focuses on strategic agility. The fourth part focuses on field study, and the results are evaluated by analyzing the data obtained from surveys of managers of large and medium-sized enterprises.
Optical signal processing technologies for communication, computing, and sensing applications
Optical technology is one of the key technologies that have been widely used for communication, computing and sensing. By utilizing different degrees of freedom for photon, optical signals can be detected and processed in different dimensions including amplitude, phase, polarization, time, frequency, and spatial mode. Multidimensional signal processing technologies have thus been broadly studied for improving the performance of communication, sensing and even computing systems. Recently, innovative optical signal processing methods and devices have been emerged to serve those needs driven by applications including but not limited to optical fiber transmission, supercontinuum generation, phase conjugation, free space optical communication, optical beamforming, photonic integration, fiber amplification, pose estimation and so on.
Ontology Management : Semantic Web, Semantic Web Services, and Business Applications
This volume describes relevant tasks, practical and theoretical challenges, limitations and methodologies, plus available software tools. The editors discuss integrating the conceptual and technical dimensions with a business view on using ontologies, by stressing the cost dimension of ontology engineering and by providing guidance on how up-to-date tooling helps to build, maintain, and use ontologies. Also included is a one-stop reference on all aspects of managing ontological data and best practices on ontology management for a number of application domains.
Nonsmooth Vector Functions and Continuous Optimization
A recent significant innovation in mathematical sciences has been the progressive use of nonsmooth calculus, an extension of the differential calculus, as a key tool of modern analysis in many areas of mathematics, operations research, and engineering. Focusing on the study of nonsmooth vector functions, this book presents a comprehensive account of the calculus of generalized Jacobian matrices and their applications to continuous nonsmooth optimization problems and variational inequalities in finite dimensions.
New horizons for a data-driven economy : A roadmap for usage and exploitation of big data in Europe
The book is structured in four parts: Part I “The Big Data Opportunity” explores the value potential of big data with a particular focus on the European context. It also describes the legal, business and social dimensions that need to be addressed, and briefly introduces the European Commission’s BIG project. Part II “The Big Data Value Chain” details the complete big data lifecycle from a technical point of view, ranging from data acquisition, analysis, curation and storage, to data usage and exploitation. Next, Part III “Usage and Exploitation of Big Data” illustrates the value creation possibilities of big data applications in various sectors, including industry, healthcare, finance, energy, media and public services. Finally, Part IV “A Roadmap for Big Data Research” identifies and prioritizes the cross-sectorial requirements for big data research, and outlines the most urgent and challenging technological, economic, political and societal issues for big data in Europe.
New Frontiers in Environmental and Social Labeling
The attractiveness of product labeling stems from their voluntary nature to achieve environmental and social goals. It is argued that through product price premia which reflect the willingness of consumers to pay more for green and socially conscious products, labels have the potential to generate changes in production techniques. In addition, labeling of products has become the preferred instrument for solving high profile trade disputes amongst members of the World Trade Organization. The contributions in this volume provide an indepth look at labeling and its relation to the governance of global trade. The book aims at bridging the research gaps related to the link between consumers’ perception of a label with their willingness to pay, the impact and the limitations of labeling in the event of food safety hazards, and the trade and development dimensions of labeling.
New Dimensions of Business Reporting and XBRL
The authors of this book analyse the social and technical nature and role of XBRL in information supply chains and capital markets as well as the XBRL standard and taxonomies. They provide a critical view of XBRL from a research perspective, present different projects in the XBRL area and indicate future directions for XBRL research. Current research questions are taken up and discussed from different perspectives. From a technical point of view, the research spectrum encompasses the internal perspective up to the final user layer. Apart from these technical issues, there are also key socio-technical aspects which are vital to the understanding of XBRL use.
Networks and Geographies of Global Social Policy Diffusion : Culture, Economy, and Colonial Legacies
This book analyses the global diffusion of social policy as a process driven by multiplex ties between countries in global social networks. The contributions analyze links between countries via global trade, colonial history, similarity in culture, and spatial proximity. Networks are viewed as the structural backbone of the diffusion process, and diffusion is anlaysed via several subfields of social policy, in order to interrogate which network dimensions drive this process.
Nanocrystals : Synthesis, Properties and Applications
Nanocrystals and Their Mesoscopic Organization is an up-to-date monograph on an important aspect of nanoscience and technology. It opens with an elegant introduction including a brief historical account. Emphasis is then given to diverse synthetic methods, both chemical and physical, in addition to modern hybrid methods. The orientation shifts gradually to properties of nanocrystals that evolve with size; detailed discussions are to be found on mesoscalar assemblies in different dimensions, special cases of core-shell and magic nuclearity nanocrystals. The authors also address applications of nanocrystals, carefully separating out potential applications and those that have already emerged, and cite around 900 references from the literature, most from the last decade. Tables providing information at a glance and schematic diagrams at relevant places, make the monograph appealing to read.
Multidisciplinary Economics : The Birth of a New Economics Faculty in the Netherlands
Multidisciplinary economics deliberately uses the insights and approaches of other disciplines and examines what consequences their contributions have for existing economic methods, theories and solutions to economic problems. Multidisciplinary economists should be at home in their own discipline and meet the high international standards of economic teaching and research that the discipline has developed. At the same time they should be able to recognise the limits of economics and be willing to open up new horizons by following new, discipline-transcending paths on which new insights into the analysis and solutions of economic problems can be found in collaboration with representatives of other disciplines. As a result of this search, economic methods and theories may have to be adjusted in such a way that they take insights from other disciplines into account. They may even have to be replaced by methods and theories that have been developed by other disciplines.
Morphological Models of Random Structures
This book covers methods of Mathematical Morphology to model and simulate random sets and functions (scalar and multivariate). The introduced models concern many physical situations in heterogeneous media, where a probabilistic approach is required, like fracture statistics of materials, scaling up of permeability in porous media, electron microscopy images (including multispectral images), rough surfaces, multi-component composites, biological tissues, textures for image coding and synthesis. The common feature of these random structures is their domain of definition in n dimensions, requiring more general models than standard Stochastic Processes.The main topics of the book cover an introduction to the theory of random sets, random space tessellations, Boolean random sets and functions, space-time random sets and functions (Dead Leaves, Sequential Alternate models, Reaction-Diffusion), prediction of effective properties of random media, and probabilistic fracture theories.
Models for computer aided tolerancing in design and manufacturing ; Selected conference papers from the 9th CIRP International Seminar on Computer-aided tolerancing, held at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA, 10-12 April, 2005
Computer Aided Tolerancing (CAT) is an important topic in any field of design and production where parts move relative to one another and/or are assembled together. Geometric variations from specified dimensions and form always occur when parts are manufactured. Improvements in production systems can cause the amounts of the variations to become smaller, but their presence does not disappear. To shorten the time from concept to market of a product, it has been increasingly important to take clearances and the tolerancing of manufacturing variations into consideration right from the beginning, at the stage of design. Hence, geometric models are defined that represent both the complete array of geometric variations possible during manufacture and also the influence of geometry on the function of individual parts and on assemblies of them.
Model-Driven Development and Operation of Multi-Cloud Applications : The MODAClouds Approach
In this book readers will find technological discussions on the existing and emerging technologies across the different stages of the big data value chain. They will learn about legal aspects of big data, the social impact, and about education needs and requirements. And they will discover the business perspective and how big data technology can be exploited to deliver value within different sectors of the economy. The book is structured in four parts: Part I "The Big Data Opportunity" explores the value potential of big data with a particular focus on the European context. It also describes the legal, business and social dimensions that need to be addressed, and briefly introduces the European Commission's BIG project.
Mobile Communications : Re-negotiation of the Social Sphere
Mobile Communications: Renegotiation of the Social Sphere surveys some of the broader issues associated with the adoption and use of mobile communication, and explores developing areas of inquiry. Mobile communications are looked at in the context of other types of mediated interaction (e-mail, instant messaging, Wi-Fi, landline telephone etc.), thus demonstrating the uniqueness of this form of communication and how it is influencing the renegotiation of the social sphere. A truly international set of contributors consider how mobile communication has impacted on society and reflect on how it is used (and sometimes resented) in various public and private spaces. They provide an in-depth analysis of specific areas which complement our understanding of the phenomena including: • The psychological dimensions of mobile communication (addiction, proclivity to be disturbed by others use of the mobile phone), • The linguistics of mobile communication, and • The understanding of mobile communication’s commercialisation. This book will be a valuable addition to any researcher’s or professional’s reading material in the area of interaction of technology and society, providing the reader with a broad insight and specific knowledge of how mobile communication is reformulating the social sphere.
Migrants and Expats : The Swiss Migration and Mobility Nexus
This book provides insight on current patterns of migration in Switzerland, which fall along a continuum from long-term and permanent to more temporary and fluid. These patterns are shaped by the interplay of legal norms, economic drivers and societal factors. The various dimensions of this Migration-Mobility Nexus are investigated by means of newly collected survey data: the Migration-Mobility Survey. The book covers different aspects of life in the host country, including the family dimension, the labour market and political participation as well as social integration. The book also takes into account the chronological dimension of migration by considering the migrants’ arrival, their stay, and their expectations regarding return.



















