This book is the result of a working group sponsored by ISSI in Bern, which was initially created to study possible ways to calibrate a Far Ultraviolet (FUV) instrument after launch. In most cases, ultraviolet instruments are well calibrated on the ground, but unfortunately, optics and detectors in the FUV are very sensitive to contaminants...

The overwhelming data produced everyday and the increasing performance and cost requirements of applications are transversal to a wide range of activities in society, from science to industry. In particular, the magnitude and complexity of the tasks that Machine Learning (ML) algorithms have to solve are driving the need to devise...

Intelligent technical systems, which combine mechanical, electrical and software engineering with methods from control engineering and advanced mathematics, go far beyond the state of the art in mechatronics and open up fascinating perspectives. Among these systems are so-called self-optimizing systems, which are able to adapt their behavior...

Remote sensing stands as the defining technology in our ability to monitor coral reefs, as well as their biophysical properties and associated processes, at regional to global scales. With overwhelming evidence that much of Earth’s reefs are in decline, our need for large-scale, repeatable assessments of reefs has never been so great....

This book addresses the need for models and techniques to predict stability boundaries, given trends toward miniaturization of switching power supplies in battery-operated portable devices, which lead to the exhibition of fast-scale chaotic instabilities.  The authors describe a method to predict stability boundaries from a...

A principal aim of computer graphics is to generate images that look as real as photographs. Realistic computer graphics imagery has however proven to be quite challenging to produce, since the appearance of materials arises from complicated physical processes that are difficult to analytically model and simulate, and image-based modeling of...

Economic development and social welfare depend on the existence of effective and efficient infrastructure systems, particularly in health, energy, transportation and water, many of which are developed and managed through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). However, empirical evidence suggests some pitfalls in the use of these PPP...

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Workshop on Augemented Environments for Computer-Assisted Interventions, held in conjunction with MICCAI 2012, in Nice, France in September 2012. The 16 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 22 submissions. The papers cover the topics of...

Tonal music, from a historical perspective, is far from homogenous; yet an enduring feature is a background "diatonic" system of exactly seven notes orderable cyclically by fifth. What is the source of the durability of the diatonic system, the octave of which is representable in terms of two particular integers, namely 12 and 7?...

Teaching and Measuring Cognitive Readiness presents theoretical and empirical findings regarding cognitive readiness and assessments of their impact on adult learning. The term readiness is used in assessing student preparation for K-12 schools, while in the military and in industry, "readiness" denotes preparation to...

AC voltage frequency changes is one of the most important functions of solid state power converters. The most desirable features in frequency converters are the ability to generate load voltages with arbitrary amplitude and frequency, sinusoidal currents and voltages waveforms; the possibility of providing unity power factor for any load;...