Perceptual Audio Evaluation - Theory, Method and Application

The golden standard evaluation reference text Now in its second edition, Evaluation Theory, Models, and Applications is the vital text on evaluation models, perfect for classroom use as a textbook, and as a professional evaluation reference. The book begins with an overview of the evaluation field and program evaluation standards, and proceeds to cover the most widely used evaluation approaches. With new evaluation designs and the inclusion of the latest literature from the field, this Second Edition is an essential update for professionals and students who want to stay current. Understanding and choosing evaluation approaches is critical to many professions, and Evaluation Theory, Models, and Applications, Second Edition is the benchmark evaluation guide. Authors Daniel L. Stufflebeam and Chris L. S. Coryn, widely considered experts in the evaluation field, introduce and describe 23 program evaluation approaches, including, new to this edition, transformative evaluation, participatory evaluation, consumer feedback, and meta-analysis. Evaluation Theory, Models, and Applications, Second Edition facilitates the process of planning, conducting, and assessing program evaluations. The highlighted evaluation approaches include: Experimental and quasi-experimental design evaluations Daniel L. Stufflebeam's CIPP Model Michael Scriven's Consumer-Oriented Evaluation Michael Patton's Utilization-Focused Evaluation Robert Stake's Responsive/Stakeholder-Centered Evaluation Case Study Evaluation Key readings listed at the end of each chapter direct readers to the most important references for each topic. Learning objectives, review questions, student exercises, and instructor support materials complete the collection of tools. Choosing from evaluation approaches can be an overwhelming process, but Evaluation Theory, Models, and Applications, Second Edition updates the core evaluation concepts with the latest research, making this complex field accessible in just one book.

This book provides a common framework for mobility management that considers the theoretical and practical aspects of systems optimization for mobile networks. In this book, the authors show how an optimized system of mobility management can improve the quality of service in existing forms of mobile communication. Furthermore, they provide a theoretical approach to mobility management, as well as developing the model for systems optimization, including practical case studies using network layer and mobility layer protocols in different deployment scenarios. The authors also address the different ways in which the specific mobility protocol can be developed, taking into account numerous factors including security, configuration, authentication, quality of service, and movement patterns of the mobiles. Key Features: Defines and discusses a common set of optimization methodologies and their application to all mobility protocols for both IPv4 and IPv6 networks Applies these technologies in the context of various layers: MAC layer, network layer, transport layer and application layer covering 802.11, LTE, WiMax, CDMA networks and protocols such as SIP, MIP, HIP, VoIP, and many more Provides a thorough analysis of the required steps during a mobility event such as discovery, network selection, configuration, authentication, security association, encryption, binding update, and media direction Includes models and tables illustrating the analysis of mobility management as well as architecture of sample wireless and mobility test beds built by the authors, involving inter-domain and intra-domain mobility scenarios This book is an excellent resource forprofessionals and systems architects in charge of designing wireless networks for commercial (3G/4G), LTE, IMS, military and Ad Hoc environment. It will be useful deployment guide for the architects wireless service providers. Graduate students, researchers in industry and academia, and systems engineers will also find this book of interest.

Drawn from international sources, this book provides principles and strategies for the evaluation of chemical reactions, and for using this information in process design and management. A useful resource for engineers who design, start-up, operate, and manage chemical and petrochemical plants, the book places special emphasis on the use of state-of-the-art technology in theory, testing methods, and applications in design and operations.

Introduces the theory and applications of the extended finite element method (XFEM) in the linear and nonlinear problems of continua, structures and geomechanics Explores the concept of partition of unity, various enrichment functions, and fundamentals of XFEM formulation. Covers numerous applications of XFEM including fracture mechanics, large deformation, plasticity, multiphase flow, hydraulic fracturing and contact problems Accompanied by a website hosting source code and examples

Entropy Theory and its Application in Environmental and Water Engineering responds to the need for a book that deals with basic concepts of entropy theory from a hydrologic and water engineering perspective and then for a book that deals with applications of these concepts to a range of water engineering problems. The range of applications of entropy is constantly expanding and new areas finding a use for the theory are continually emerging. The applications of concepts and techniques vary across different subject areas and this book aims to relate them directly to practical problems of environmental and water engineering. The book presents and explains the Principle of Maximum Entropy (POME) and the Principle of Minimum Cross Entropy (POMCE) and their applications to different types of probability distributions. Spatial and inverse spatial entropy are important for urban planning and are presented with clarity. Maximum entropy spectral analysis and minimum cross entropy spectral analysis are powerful techniques for addressing a variety of problems faced by environmental and water scientists and engineers and are described here with illustrative examples. Giving a thorough introduction to the use of entropy to measure the unpredictability in environmental and water systems this book will add an essential statistical method to the toolkit of postgraduates, researchers and academic hydrologists, water resource managers, environmental scientists and engineers. It will also offer a valuable resource for professionals in the same areas, governmental organizations, private companies as well as students in earth sciences, civil and agricultural engineering, and agricultural and rangeland sciences. This book: Provides a thorough introduction to entropy for beginners and more experienced users Uses numerous examples to illustrate the applications of the theoretical principles Allows the reader to apply entropy theory to the solution of practical problems Assumes minimal existing mathematical knowledge Discusses the theory and its various aspects in both univariate and bivariate cases Covers newly expanding areas including neural networks from an entropy perspective and future developments.

The first book to be published on the Theta method, outlining under what conditions the method outperforms other forecasting methods This book is the first to detail the Theta method of forecasting – one of the most difficult-to-beat forecasting benchmarks, which topped the biggest forecasting competition in the world in 2000: the M3 competition. Written by two of the leading experts in the forecasting field, it illuminates the exact replication of the method and under what conditions the method outperforms other forecasting methods. Recent developments such as multivariate models are also included, as are a series of practical applications in finance, economics, and healthcare. The book also offers practical tools in MS Excel and guidance, as well as provisional access, for the use of R source code and respective packages. Forecasting with the Theta Method: Theory and Applications includes three main parts. The first part, titled Theory, Methods, Models & Applications details the new theory about the method. The second part, Applications & Performance in Forecasting Competitions, describes empirical results and simulations on the method. The last part roadmaps future research and also include contributions from another leading scholar of the method – Dr. Fotios Petropoulos. First ever book to be published on the Theta Method Explores new theory and exact conditions under which methods would outperform most forecasting benchmarks Clearly written with practical applications Employs R – open source code with all included implementations Forecasting with the Theta Method: Theory and Applications is a valuable tool for both academics and practitioners involved in forecasting and respective software development.

A novel approach to decision engineering, with a verified framework for modeling human reasoning Soft Computing Evaluation Logic provides an in-depth examination of evaluation decision problems and presents comprehensive guidance toward the use of the Logic Scoring of Preference (LSP) method in modeling complex decision criteria. Fully aligned with current developments in computational intelligence, the discussion covers the design and use of LSP criteria for evaluation and comparison in diverse areas, such as search engines, medical conditions, real estate, space management, habitat mitigation projects in ecology, and land use and residential development suitability maps, with versatile transfer to other similar decision-modeling contexts. Human decision making is rife with fuzziness, imprecision, uncertainty, and half-truths—yet humans make evaluation decisions every day. In this book, such decision processes are observed, analyzed, and modeled. The result is graded logic, a soft computing mathematical infrastructure that provides both formal logic and semantic generalizations of classical Boolean logic. Graded logic is used for logic aggregation in the context of evaluation models consistent with observable properties of human reasoning. The LSP method, based on graded logic and logic aggregation, is a vital component of an industrial-strength decision engineering framework. Thus, the book: Provides detailed theoretical background for graded logic Provides a theory of logic aggregators Explains the LSP method for designing complex evaluation criteria and their use Shows techniques for evaluation, comparison, and selection of complex systems, as well as the cost/suitability analysis, optimization, sensitivity analysis, tradeoff analysis, and missingness-tolerant aggregation Includes a survey of available LSP software tools, including ISEE, ANSY and LSP.NT. With quantitative modeling of human reasoning, novel approaches to modeling decision criteria, and a verified decision engineering framework applicable to a broad array of applications, this book is an invaluable resource for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners working within the decision engineering realm.

The essential reference for human development theory, updated and reconceptualized The Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science, a four-volume reference, is the field-defining work to which all others are compared. First published in 1946, and now in its Seventh Edition, the Handbook has long been considered the definitive guide to the field of developmental science. Volume 1, Theory and Method, presents a rich mix of classic and contemporary theoretical perspectives, but the dominant views throughout are marked by an emphasis on the dynamic interplay of all facets of the developmental system across the life span, incorporating the range of biological, cognitive, emotional, social, cultural, and ecological levels of analysis. Examples of the theoretical approaches discussed in the volume include those pertinent to human evolution, self regulation, the development of dynamic skills, and positive youth development. The research, methodological, and applied implications of the theoretical models discussed in the volume are presented. Understand the contributions of biology, person, and context to development within the embodied ecological system Discover the relations among individual, the social world, culture, and history that constitute human development Examine the methods of dynamic, developmental research Learn person-oriented methodological approaches to assessing developmental change The scholarship within this volume and, as well, across the four volumes of this edition, illustrate that developmental science is in the midst of a very exciting period. There is a paradigm shift that involves increasingly greater understanding of how to describe, explain, and optimize the course of human life for diverse individuals living within diverse contexts. This Handbook is the definitive reference for educators, policy-makers, researchers, students, and practitioners in human development, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and neuroscience.

TRANSFER MATRIX METHOD FOR MULTIBODY SYSTEMS: THEORY AND APPLICATIONS Xiaoting Rui, Guoping Wang and Jianshu Zhang – Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China Featuring a new method of multibody system dynamics, this book introduces the transfer matrix method systematically for the first time. First developed by the lead author and his research team, this method has found numerous engineering and technological applications. Readers are first introduced to fundamental concepts like the body dynamics equation, augmented operator and augmented eigenvector before going in depth into precision analysis and computations of eigenvalue problems as well as dynamic responses. The book also covers a combination of mixed methods and practical applications in multiple rocket launch systems, self-propelled artillery as well as launch dynamics of on-ship weaponry. • Comprehensively introduces a new method of analyzing multibody dynamics for engineers • Provides a logical development of the transfer matrix method as applied to the dynamics of multibody systems that consist of interconnected bodies • Features varied applications in weaponry, aeronautics, astronautics, vehicles and robotics Written by an internationally renowned author and research team with many years' experience in multibody systems Transfer Matrix Method of Multibody System and Its Applications is an advanced level text for researchers and engineers in mechanical system dynamics. It is a comprehensive reference for advanced students and researchers in the related fields of aerospace, vehicle, robotics and weaponry engineering.

Six Sigma methodology is a business management strategy which seeks to improve the quality of process output by identifying and removing the causes of errors and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. This book examines the Six Sigma methodology through illustrating the most widespread tools and techniques involved in Six Sigma application. Both managerial and statistical aspects are analysed allowing the reader to apply these tools in the field. Furthermore, the book offers insight on variation and risk management and focuses on the structure and organizational aspects of Six Sigma projects. Key features: • Presents both statistical and managerial aspects of Six Sigma, covering both basic and more advanced statistical techniques. • Provides clear examples and case studies to illustrate the concepts and methodologies used in Six Sigma. • Written by experienced authors in the field. This textbook is ideal for graduates studying Six Sigma for Black Belt and Green Belt qualifications as well as for engineering and quality management courses. Business consultants and consultancy firms implementing Six Sigma will also benefit from this book.