Microgroove continues John Corbett's exploration of diverse musics, with essays, interviews, and musician profiles that focus on jazz, improvised music, contemporary classical, rock, folk, blues, post-punk, and cartoon music. Corbett's approach to writing is as polymorphous as the music, ranging from oral history and journalistic portraiture to deeply engaged cultural critique. Corbett advocates for the relevance of "little" music, which despite its smaller audience is of enormous cultural significance. He writes on musicians as varied as Sun Ra, PJ Harvey, Koko Taylor, Steve Lacy, and Helmut Lachenmann. Among other topics, he discusses recording formats; the relationship between music and visual art, dance, and poetry; and, with Terri Kapsalis, the role of female orgasm sounds in contemporary popular music. Above all, Corbett privileges the importance of improvisation; he insists on the need to pay close attention to “other” music and celebrates its ability to open up pathways to new ideas, fresh modes of expression, and unforeseen ways of knowing.

In its 114th year, Billboard remains the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events, brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends.

Microtechnology has changed our world since the last century, when silicon microelectronics revolutionized sensor, control and communication areas, with applications extending from domotics to automotive, and from security to biomedicine. The present century, however, is also seeing an accelerating pace of innovation in glassy materials; as an example, glass-ceramics, which successfully combine the properties of an amorphous matrix with those of micro- or nano-crystals, offer a very high flexibility of design to chemists, physicists and engineers, who can conceive and implement advanced microdevices. In a very similar way, the synthesis of glassy polymers in a very wide range of chemical structures offers unprecedented potential of applications. The contemporary availability of microfabrication technologies, such as direct laser writing or 3D printing, which add to the most common processes (deposition, lithography and etching), facilitates the development of novel or advanced microdevices based on glassy materials. Biochemical and biomedical sensors, especially with the lab-on-a-chip target, are one of the most evident proofs of the success of this material platform. Other applications have also emerged in environment, food, and chemical industries. The present Special Issue of Micromachines aims at reviewing the current state-of-the-art and presenting perspectives of further development. Contributions related to the technologies, glassy materials, design and fabrication processes, characterization, and, eventually, applications are welcome.

This book introduces readers to various tools and techniques for the design of precision, miniature products, assemblies and associated manufacturing processes. In particular, it focuses on precision mechanisms, robotic devices and their control strategies, together with case studies. In the context of manufacturing process, the book highlights micro/nano machining/forming processes using non-conventional energy sources such as lasers, EDM (electro-discharge machining), ECM (electrochemical machining), etc. Techniques for achieving optimum performance in process modeling, simulation and optimization are presented. The applications of various research tools such as FEM (finite element method), neural networks, genetic algorithms, etc. to product-process design and optimization are illustrated through case studies. The state-of-the-art material presented here provides valuable directions for product development and future research work in this area. The contents of this book will be of use to researchers and industry professionals alike.

"A comprehensive guide to creating, recording, editing, and sharing music and other audio"--Cover.

Microfabrication and precision engineering is an increasingly important area relating to metallic, polymers, ceramics, composites, biomaterials and complex materials. Micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) emphasize miniaturization in both electronic and mechanical components. Microsystem products may be classified by application, and have been applied to a variety of fields, including medical, automotive, aerospace and alternative energy. Microsystems technology refers to the products as well as the fabrication technologies used in production. With detailed information on modelling of micro and nano-scale cutting, as well as innovative machining strategies involved in microelectrochemical applications, microchannel fabrication, as well as underwater pulsed Laser beam cutting, among other techniques, Microfabrication and Precision Engineering is a valuable reference for students, researchers and professionals in the microfabrication and precision engineering fields. - Contains contributions by top industry experts - Includes the latest techniques and strategies - Special emphasis given to state-of-the art research and development in microfabrication and precision engineering

Alignment phenomena are characteristic of liquid crystalline materials, and understanding them is critically important in understanding the essential features and behavior of liquid crystals and the performance of Liquid Crystal Devices (LCDs). Furthermore, in LCD production lines, the alignment process is of practical importance. Alignment Technologies and Applications of Liquid Crystal Devices demonstrates both the fundamental and practical aspects of alignment phenomena in liquid crystals. The physical basis of alignment phenomena is first introduced in order to aid the understanding of the various physical phenomena observed in the interface between liquid crystalline materials and alignment layer surfaces. Methods for the characterization of surfaces, which induce the alignment phenomena, and of the alignment layer itself are introduced. These methods are useful for the research of liquid crystalline materials and devices in academic research as well as in industry. In the practical sections, the alignment methods used in the LCD production lines are introduced with various other trials for the alignment technologies. LCD performances are also discussed in relation to alignment phenomena. The authors have a wide range of experience in both academic research and in industry. This book will be of interest to researchers and engineers working in the LCD industry, and for physics and chemistry researchers studying liquid crystalline materials.

This book contains selected papers presented at the second international Conference on Progress in Digital and Physical Manufacturing (ProDPM'21), organized by the School of Technology and Management (ESTG) of the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPL), from the 27th to 29th of October 2021. It represents a significant contribution to the current advances in digital and physical manufacturing issues as it contains topical research in this field. The book is an essential reading for all of those working on digital and physical manufacturing, promoting better links between the academia and the industry. The conference papers cover a wide range of important topics like biomanufacturing, advanced rapid prototyping technologies, rapid tooling and manufacturing, micro-fabrication, 3D CAD and data acquisition, and collaborative design.

Micro/Nano Robotics and Automation technologies have rapidly grown associated with the growth of Micro and Nanotechnologies. This book presents a summary of fundamentals in micro-nano scale engineering and the current state of the art of these technologies. “Micro-Nanorobotic Manipulation Systems and their Applications” introduces these advanced technologies from the basics and applications aspects of Micro/Nano-Robotics and Automation from the prospective micro/nano-scale manipulation. The book is organized in 9 chapters including an overview chapter of Micro/Nanorobotics and Automation technology from the historical view and important related research works. Further chapters are devoted to the physics of micro-nano fields as well as to material and science, microscopes, fabrication technology, importance of biological cell, and control techniques. Furthermore important examples, applications and a concise summary of Micro-Nanorobotics and Automation technologies are given.