Understand the cutting-edge technology of semantic communications and its growing applicationsSemantic communications constitute a revolution in wireless technology, combining semantic theory with wireless communication. In a semantic communication, essential information is encoded at the source, drastically reducing the required data usage, and then decoded at the destination in such a way that all key information is recovered, even if transmission is damaged or i...

This book provides an overview on nanostructured thermoelectric materials and devices, covering fundamental concepts, synthesis techniques, device contacts and stability, and potential applications, especially in waste heat recovery and solar energy conversion. The contents focus on thermoelectric devices made from nanomaterials with high thermoelectric efficiency for use in large scale to generate megawatts electricity.Covers the latest discoveries, methods, techno...

Complex environmental and hydrological processes are characterized by more than one correlated random variable. These events are multivariate and their treatment requires multivariate frequency analysis. Traditional analysis methods are, however, too restrictive and do not apply in many cases. Recent years have therefore witnessed numerous applications of copulas to multivariate hydrologic frequency analyses. This book describes the basic concepts of copulas, and outlines current trends an...

This book describes various crisis situations in transitional China, and by analyzing the unique characteristics and backgrounds of emergencies and crisis, it argues that crisis management has become a major challenge for the Chinese governments. It then discusses the chronology of crisis, organizational behaviors and the decision-making processes to construct a modern crisis management system in detail, to shed light on the creation of a strategic design and institutional framework of cri...

From the end of the Second World War to the early 1970s, new paradigms began to form in academic, scientific, and professional knowledge in various disciplines and fields—not only in the United States, but also in East Asia.Drawing on a wealth of archival documents from East Asia, Knowledge Production in Cold War Asia focuses on the building and rebuilding of these different forms of knowledge in or about East Asia during the first half of the Cold War. It explores how thi...

This book examines urban development and its role in planning in China and other Asian cities. Starting with a substantial narrative on the history, development philosophy, and urban form of ancient Asian cities, it then identifies the characteristics of urban society and different phases of development history. It then discusses urbanization patterns in China with a focus on spatial layout of the city clusters in the Yangtze River Delta since the 20th Century. Lastly, it explores institut...

Technologies for Biochemical Conversion of Biomass introduces biomass biochemical conversion technology, including the pretreatment platform, enzyme platform, cell refining platform, sugar platform, fermentation platform, and post-treatment platform. Readers will find a systematic treatment, not only of the basics of biomass biochemical conversion and the introduction of each strategy, but also of the current advances of research in this area. Researchers will find the key problems in each...

A multitude of processes in hydrology and environmental engineering are either random or entail random components which are characterized by random variables. These variables are described by frequency distributions. This book provides an overview of different systems of frequency distributions, their properties, and applications to the fields of water resources and environmental engineering. A variety of systems are covered, including the Pearson system, Burr system, and systems commonly ...

Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Second or Foreign Language, edited by Ko-Yin Sung, addresses three emerging themes in the field of Chinese language teaching and learning. (1) Increasingly ubiquitous in all language learning and teaching, and for the learning of Chinese as a second language in particular, information and communication technology (ICT) can serve as an important and effective tool. Several chapters focus on how certain emerging ICT tools are applied in teaching and learnin...

This book introduces the background, basic concepts and evolution of computer network development; by comparing and contrasting with the typical network architectures in the market. The book focuses on the architecture and underpinning technologies towards the future in network designs. It also provides a reconfigurable evolutionary network function innovation platform for researches to run experiments on the networks they designed. The contents of this book are novel, informative, and pra...

Comprehensive coverage on the growing science and technology of producing ethanol from the world's abundant cellulosic biomassThe inevitable decline in petroleum reserves and its impact on gasoline prices, combined with climate change concerns, have contributed to current interest in renewable fuels. Bioethanol is the most successful renewable transport fuel—with corn and sugarcane ethanol currently in wide use as blend-in fuels in the United States, Brazil, and a ...

The thermal processing of materials ranges from few fem to seconds by Swift Heavy Ion Implantation to about one second using advanced Rapid Thermal Annealing. This book offers after an historical excursus selected contributions on fundamental and applied aspects of thermal processing of classical elemental semiconductors and other advanced materials including nanostructures with novel optoelectronic, magnetic, and superconducting properties. Special emphasis is given on the diffusion and s...