This book covers an approach to conversational informatics which encompasses science and technology for understanding and augmenting conversation in the network age. A major challenge in engineering is to develop a technology for conveying not just messages but also underlying wisdom. Relevant theories and practices in cognitive linguistics and communication science, as well as techniques devel…
This book is an introduction to automotive engineering, to give freshmen ideas about this technology. The text is subdivided in parts that cover all facets of the automobile, including legal and economic aspects related to industry and products, product configuration and fabrication processes, historic evolution and future developments. The first part describes how motor vehicles were invent…
What are the key channels to change in blended instructional practice as they relate to the use of a learning management system (LMS)? What role LMS users’ profiles play in facilitating change in practice? Can we model users’ quality of interaction (QoI) with LMS? How inclusiveness and affectiveness could lead to a personalized intelligent LMS (iLMS)? If these questions sound intrinsic to y…
With the proliferation of social media and on-line communities in networked world a large gamut of data has been collected and stored in databases. The rate at which such data is stored is growing at a phenomenal rate and pushing the classical methods of data analysis to their limits. This book presents an integrated framework of recent empirical and theoretical research on social network analy…
This book describes a systematic approach to risk assessment for complex socio-technical systems like industrial processes, especially innovative ones. It provides an overview of applications of system dynamics theory and methodologies on industrial systems in order to demonstrate the relevance of such an approach in helping to assess risks in such complex systems. An important feature of th…
This book comprises the proceedings of a rural technologies conference organised by the Rural Technology Action Group (RuTAG), which was conceptualized and initiated by Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India R. Chidambaram in 2003–04. The book highlights case studies and research into providing science and technology interventions for the development of rural areas. Cov…
This book presents the proceedings of the 1st EAI International Conference on Technology, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Education (TIE 2017), which took place at Canterbury Christ Church University on September 11-12, 2017. The central theme of the conference is creativity and innovation, especially in relation to technology, business, education, social and political needs that make modern s…
This book introduces methods of re-processing images to extract numerical information that can be used to quantify the observables in environmental modelling. Experiments or procedures that yield large images can be statistically or parametrically examined. Through the use of open source libraries, the book shows how ‘big data’ in the form of images or datasets can be comparatively analysed…
This book approaches cultural landscape as a driver for societal challenges, economic development, social inclusion, place assessment and heritage conservation. It explores issues stemming from the relation between conservation and emergencies, and identifies descriptive tools for conveying knowledge and generating new expertise, heritage skills, seismic culture and social resilience. The do…
This book provides a solution to “rare event” problems without using the classical theory of reliability and theory of probability. This solution is based on the methodology of risk assessment as “measure of danger” (in keeping with the ICS RAS) and an expert approach to determining systems’ safety indications using Fuzzy Sets methods. Further, the book puts forward a new concept: “…
Cities have always played a prominent role in the prosperity of civilization. Indeed, every great civilization we can think of is associated with the prominence of one or more thriving cities. And so understanding cities -- their inhabitants, their institutions, their infrastructure -- what they are and how they work independently and together -- is of fundamental importance to our collecti…